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 #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.