WITHOUT A HOME
SHELTER
Continued from Page 8
days, with most poop In staying an aver
ugn of SO to 40 day*, said Char Hall, thn
shnllnr's advixatn counselor
Hall said alxiut half of (ho adults at
thn shnltnr havn Jobs hut urn unahln to
find an apartmnnt or housn because thny
cannot afford It or havn had credit
"Thorn Isn’t a ploUmt I can give you
(of u typical homeless person) t*e
cuusn they’re everybody,’’ she said.
"The linn where people become home
less Is rising It's attacking the middle
class too."
Thn Family Shelter has a two to
three-week waiting list, and once people
gel In, they must scramble to find per
manent housing. Hall saiil
"It's a full-time Jot) taring homeless,"
she said
If adults wilt) Jotrs havn a hard time
finding a plain to live, a person with
mental illness Is often facial with even
fewer housing opportunities
If a mentally ill person is receiving
government lienefits, the most a person
gets is an average of 54(H) a month. Ea
ton said, which is not enough to live on
whim rent Is S2T>0 to $Jf>0 a month An
other problem is that "the symptoms of
their illness make them unattractive
candidates" for housing, he said
Hut another of Eugene Emergency
Housing's programs. Koyal Avenue
Shelter, has been working since 1«HH to
provide mentally ill adults with tempo
rary two weeks limit housing with
other much needed assistance
The shelter serves as a stabilization fa
cil(tutor for the mentally ill person who
is fresh off the streets When a person
first arrives, the staff works to get the
person to take their medtt at ion and tries
to stabilize his or her mental c ondltion
"Koval Avenue is the most valuable
resource we have," Eaton said, adding il
is so unique ll (levs not have state rules
to fit it "They take people the hospital
won't take beeause they're too weird
he said
Royal Avenue holds 1f> people who.
In order to stay there, must have a refer
ral from Lane County Mental Health
The people who come then? are from
everywhere, program manager. Tom
Terrell said Some have just l>een evict
ed from their apartments or have boon
released from mentul hospitals
The approximately 35 people a month
the shelter serves often need some basic
help with things, such as filling out pa -
perwork for benefits, or help in resolv
ing a conflict with a landlord, Terrell
said
"Any number of little things we do
and take for granted, they can't do.''
said Terrell, who has worktxf with the
mentally ill for 11 years
"We save the system a whole lot of
money and it is much less disruptive for
tho individual." he said "Sometimes
you feel like you're shoving water with
a s(K»on (But) I guess I'm |ust an eternal
optimist "
But some people do appear to get lx>t
ter, like Joyce Bridges, 4H, who has
schizophrenia and is one of the Koval
Avenue's six full-time permanent resi
dents.
Bridges worked as a waitress and a
typist in a newspaper office when she
was younger, before she started hearing
voices and was diagnosed with schizo
phrenia Last year, after being evicted
from her apartment for not paying her
rent. Bridges lived in a halfway house
for four months and then on the streets.
She said she has plans to someday
move twek to her hometown of Toledo,
Ore tint for the present time feels lucky
to have a place to go. "We're really for
tunate," she said "I'm really happy to
be here."
Who are they?
• 33 percent are families
• 25 perron! are »chool*age
children
• 51 porennl are single men
• 4t> perron! are black
• .10 jK'rrnnl are veterans
• 33 pen cn! are chronically
menially ill
• 10 portent have a physic a!
disability
• 21 porccnl have: experi
enced domestic violence
• 33 jamml of those in she I
ter* have an al. lull problem:
25 (Kinc-nt have a drug abuse
problem
Other facts
• An ostimuted < million
Americans are homeless
• I amiln*s with children rep
resent the fastest growing sec
tor of the homeless popula
tion
• A relent congressional
study predh ts that nearly an
other in million people will
far e the prosper t of homeless
ness in the next 15 years
Sour* e: Homelessness In
formation K»r hang*. National
Coalition for the Homeless
ness. The United States Cm
fereni e of Mayors
REACTIONS
Continued from Page 9
h a n cl I I n g , '' s a i <i 1 o y < n
Assadourian, manager of the
mlailing Place 'Lot's fm e it.
those guys 'ire down and-out
hums "
Savon's heat
l.ugeno police officer Ken
Savon knows most of the street
people by name and said he
c onsiders them Ins sec ond fam
ily. hut he sale) they realize he
has a joti to do
"(Street people) know where
the fine line is if they c ross
it. they'd rather lie arrestcsi fiy
mu, bee ause they know mo,
than by someone else," said
Saxon, who patrols from 11th
to 15th avi'fiui's and Patterson
to Kim aid streets
I don't judge people hy the
length of their hair or their skin
color," he said "I treat them
with respect until I am treated
differently
Saxon said he sees his job as
not only to arrest or give lit kets
to street people who .ire com
mitting i rimes, but to seek help
(or them il they want it Saxon
lias found jobs for a few street
people and has been successful
in having some attend Alcohol
ics Anonymous meetings regu
larly
" They have to reai h their
Applicants sought for
EWEB Board Vacancy
I ugene Water & tlectric Board
(EWEB) is currently accepting
applications tor the Board seat
representing Wards 4 and 5. The
Board seat will become vacant due to
the resignation of Jack Delay
December 31, 1991.
To qualify, an applicant must be:
• a registered voter;
• a resident of Wards 4 or 5 (see map);
• a resident of Eugene for the past 12 months;
• available to attend Board Meetings every 2nd and
4th Monday of each month;
• able to run for election to this office in the May
1992 primary.
The term of appointment will extend through
December 31, 1992.
Applications are available weekdays, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., at
Eugene Water A Electric Board, 500 East Fourth Avenue,
P.O. Box 10148, Eugene, Oregon 97440.
Application deadline is 12 noon on Wednesday,
November 20. For more information, contact Krista Hince,
Assistant Secretary, 484-2411.
EWEB
Eugene Water & Electric Board
500 East 4th Avenue
Eugene, OR 97440
503-484-2411
- Ward
bOundr>#t
Not tn
Gty fam.'t*
bottom before they will be
ready for help,'' he said
lust as there are "good” street
jieople, there are "bad" ones as
well. Saxon said An aggressive
panhandler, he said, ruins it lor
the ones who are silting peace
fully asking for money
Saxon said the majority of
the crimes street people com
mit have to do with drinking
violations, aggressive panhan
dling or trespassing
Men hant.s band together
But I’otarson, who has
worked at the Red Rooster for
!!_’ years, said that even more
goes on than Saxon is able to
six.'.
The officer is only able to
work eight-hour shifts on bis
patrol, leaving a lot unseen. Pe
terson said
Street people are one of the
reasons 13th Avenue mer
chants requested an officer to
patrol the area Saxon started
on the boat about a year ago.
and his salary is paid jointly by
the University, the Eugene po
lice department and the Uni
versity Small Businesses Asso
ciation. which includes mer
chants on 13th
Ureeno said the addition of
Saxon has made a "1,000 per
cent" difference.
“Before Ken came, It was a
total zoo," said Greene, who
has worked in the area for 14
years
Worst (luring mi miner
The urea wus al Us worst last
summer, (intone said
"1-usl summer was the worst
I've ever seen Absolutely,"
Greene said. "I've never seen
ken rattled before, and he wus
pretty rattled ”
Shirley Gall, who is the IJ.S
Hank campus branch manager
and has worked at the bunk
since 1974, agreed with Greene,
saying customers started com
ing through the back door of
the bank in the summer be
cause the stairs leading to the
front door wen' always clogged
by loitering street people.
Many of the merchants say
panhandlers loitering in front
of their businesses leads to u
decrease in customers
"I'm sure that we have lost a
lot of customers due to it,"
Assadourian said of the
mEaling Place.
Greene said customers have
been very vocal to him uIhiuI
having to face panhandlers lie
fore entering Rainbow Optics.
"Everyday I get calls from
people saying. 1 don't want to
come to your store because of
the panhandlers,'" Greene said.