Agencies countywide preparing for Katrina refugees

North County Times
September 8, 2005
By: DAVID FRIED - Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO ---- While no one is sure how many survivors of Hurricane Katrina will make their way here, housing and homeless agencies countywide are gearing up to absorb the potential wave of evacuees that could arrive in the San Diego area.

"We know everyone wants to help and has services to provide, and we want to be prepared if they do arrive," said Mike Dececchi, a program manager with the county's Housing and Community Development Department.

In North County, Escondido-based Interfaith Community Services announced Thursday that it is preparing to create a shelter camp in a Valley Center residential trailer park. The nonprofit set up a similar camp after the 2003 Cedar and Paradise wildfires.

"We're fairly certain we could put it together if we needed to right now," said Craig Jones, who is helping organize Interfaith's efforts. "The question is, do we need to?"

Interfaith also said it might be able to provide up to four apartments at one of its housing facilities for veterans, as long as the federal Veterans Administration approves it.

And in Vista, North County Solutions for Change, which operates a temporary housing program for families, could possibly take in as many as 50 hurricane survivors at its former headquarters on East Vista Way.

The nonprofit organization recently won approval from the Vista City Council to reopen the facility as a year-round shelter for families. However, Executive Director Chris Megison said that Solutions does not plan to start that program until December, and the shelter could accommodate evacuees in the meantime, pending approval from the council.

Many other county agencies also say they have beds, psychological counseling and other services normally restricted to veterans and other special cases, as long as state and federal authorities ---- which fund the programs ---- approve using the services for the evacuees.

On Thursday, representatives from about 20 nonprofit homeless organizations, as well as the county's housing department, met to coordinate their resources, in case they are called upon to provide services.

At this point, however, the refugees' arrival remains a big if.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said earlier this week that San Diego would be taking in 600 hurricane victims, more than any other California city.

But local American Red Cross and homeland security officials have ceased preparations for that influx, on advice of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has indicated that many of the Louisiana and Mississippi residents left homeless by the storm preferred to remain as close as possible to the area.

But Dececchi and other assistance providers said the area still needed to prepare to accommodate refugees who arrive on their own, or through private efforts such as that of David Perez.

Perez, a Carmel Valley oil company executive, returned from Baton Rouge on Sunday with a chartered plane filled with 82 evacuees, who are now under the care of the Red Cross.

An unnamed San Diego businessman was expected to fly in an additional 60 individuals Thursday night. Arrangements have been made, however, to relocate that group to the Los Angeles area.

Even if their efforts ultimately amount to no more than an exercise, many social service providers said it will at least improve coordination between emergency relief efforts and the social service programs that can play a vital role in getting victims back on their feet.

"We don't know what the numbers (of evacuees) are going to be," said Pat Leslie, the social work program director at Point Loma Nazarene University. "But the long-term advantage ... is to make better system connects and to raise awareness of homeless (services) in an appropriate way."

Still other services have already begun organizing housing possibilities for those refugees who are already here.

The county has released about 300 federal housing vouchers for evacuees who already received the public benefit before they arrived in San Diego.

And Catholic Charities is leading efforts to match refugees with the dozens of families that have volunteered to share their homes as a temporary sanctuary.

Mike McKay, director of refugee services for Catholic Charities, said sharing houses with local residents is common in refugee relocation efforts. Moreover, a family home can serve as a welcoming alternative to the sometimes uncomfortable, and less private atmosphere, of a homeless shelter.

"They may need to stay a week or a month (at the homes) so they can start with a little clearer head about what they want to do with their future," said McKay.

Whether many of the refugees ultimately return to their hometowns, land jobs and a decent place to live in San Diego County or rely on homeless services could have tremendous repercussions for a county that already has an estimated 9,600 homeless individuals.

And a wave of evacuees could place assistance providers in the tricky predicament of determining whether to help a Katrina survivor or a local family that has fallen on hard times of its own.

All of these factors have homeless service providers asking what will happen should an influx of refugees make their way to the county in the months ahead, only to end up living in shelters.

"It's already well established that there's more need, more demand for homeless shelters and services than all of us are collectively bringing to bear right now," said Interfaith's Jones. "And so any additional (load) is going to stress that."

Contact staff writer David Fried at (760) 740-5416 or dfried@nctimes.com.