$1 MILLION TO AID HOMELESS MORE FAMILIES TO FIND SHELTER.

Byline: JIM SKEEN Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- Lancaster and Los Angeles County officials said Wednesday that they will spend $1 million to build 13 additional units to house families at the community shelter.

The officials, along with a representative of the shelter operator, Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, said they are working cooperatively to serve more of the Antelope Valley's homeless families.

``There is a tremendous need,'' said Moeed Khan, regional director of Catholic Charities. ``Every day we have to turn away five or six families who need shelter.''

In the Antelope Valley, more than 3,600 people, including 300-plus children and increasing numbers of women, sleep on streets, in desert encampments and on sofas or in garages at friends' or relatives' homes, according to a Los Angeles County census released in January.

Activists say the valley's homeless population has about doubled since the late 1990s. Overall population increased and rising property values prompted owners to sell rental housing. New owners occupied former rentals or raised rents to pay higher mortgages.

Each of the shelter's new family units will have two bedrooms, a bathroom and closet space. Each will be big enough for as many as four people.

County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich and Lancaster Mayor Henry Hearns announced the allocation of $1 million from the county's general fund to the city's redevelopment agency.

County government is providing the funding out of the $20 million budgeted last year by the Board of Supervisors to build or renovate shelters countywide and to improve services for the homeless.

The shelter, established in 1989, currently houses 52 people year-round and includes two family units. More people are taken in overnight during the winter.

The shelter is owned by the city's redevelopment agency and is leased to Catholic Charities, which provides social services in addition to operating the shelter.

The units will be constructed in the rear of the shelter at 44611 Yucca Ave. Residents will enter through the shelter's front door to pass through a security check.

The families will be required, just as other shelter residents are, to participate in case management. Social workers help residents develop goals and, if they are eligible, to apply for help such as food stamps, veterans health service and Social Security.

``Our goal is to get them on their feet and into permanent housing in six months,'' Khan said.

The units will be simple in design and constructed in a few months, city officials said.

james.skeen@dailynews

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5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color in AV edition only) A woman sits with her child Wednesday in a family unit at the Lancaster Community Shelter, where 13 more family units will soon be built.

(2 -- color in AV edition only) Feminine touches and stuffed toys add some cheer to the women's dormitory at the Lancaster Community Shelter. There are increasing numbers of women and children among the Antelope Valley's homeless population.

(3 -- ran in AV edition only) A $1 million expansion, with 13 more family units, is planned behind the Lancaster Community Shelter, city and county officials announced Wednesday.

(4 -- 5 -- ran in AV edition only) At right, John Harrington, operations manager; Shirley Sayles, supporters' president; and Lancaster Community Shelter Director Patricia Welch stand where new family units will be built. The men's dormitory, below, is full of beds.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer