A WARM, DRY PLACE AND FOOD HOMELESS FIND SHELTER AGAIN COTS SET UP BEFORE STORM SOAKS REGION.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - All of Bernard Grogan's worldly possessions rest in a plastic bin at the end of his cot in the city's only winter shelter for the homeless.

``God tells us to look out for the homeless and the poor,'' said Grogan, 29, who drifted to Southern California several months ago after his release from a Florida prison in March. ``This helps us get back on our feet.''

A man wanting to build a church after a stint behind bars, a mother with a 3-month-old boy and a pair of young adults trying to enter a drug- rehabilitation program found warm meals - and perhaps a second chance - inside the doublewide trailers in back of a Los Angeles County maintenance yard in Canyon Country.

A previous shelter in the area had been closed. The new 40-bed facility opened on Christmas Eve after less than three weeks of planning and just before torrential rains drenched the region.

The day before the opening, dozens of volunteers descended with donated supplies, and fire and building safety inspectors took time from their day off to grant operation permits.

Since then, about a dozen people have been fed each night at the shelter, and a half-dozen homeless have been offered beds, said Andy Pattantyus, a board member for the Santa Clarita Community Development Corp., which operates the shelter.

``We didn't cut any corners,'' he said. ``We still had to do things right.''

Still, some work remains to be done - including installing a wheelchair ramp and repairing a small leak in the roof. Pattantyus said the work will be completed within the week, when more homeless are expected to show up.

``It usually takes a week to ramp up,'' he said. ``People are still figuring out it's here, figuring out our van route.''

The shelter will be open until March 15, when the operators hope to relocate the facility to a permanent site.

Grogan arrived at the shelter earlier this week, with two backpacks in tow. He said he had been staying at a hotel in Los Angeles for $150 a week, but relocated to the Santa Clarita Valley to be near a friend. When the shelter is closed during the day, he looks for work.

``Without the shelter, I'll probably be homeless out here,'' he said.

Grogan said he worked at a carnival before he was sent to a Florida prison for ``threatening to kill the president of the United States.'' He was locked up for about a year, and he said he has since devoted his life to Christianity.

``I've been trying to work my way back to society, to do the right thing this time,'' said Grogan, who wore a baseball cap stenciled with the words ``The Lamb of God.''

Grogan said he tries to live by a passage in the Bible describing how Jesus ``humbled'' himself on the cross.

``He brought himself low,'' he said. ``He is considered a king, but he considered himself a servant. That's what I want to consider myself - a servant. I'm planning on building a church. I like to find roots. I like to work with people. ... But I do the work of the Father. So if he tells me to go, I go.''

At the shelter lounge, Sheila Osgood cuddled her 3-month-old son, Josh, while her brother Paul Gilbert looked on. Mother and son are staying at a local motel with vouchers through the shelter, while Gilbert stays with friends.

The siblings have been homeless for several years after losing their apartment in Palmdale, said Osgood, 39. The baby's father is serving 13 months in jail for a parole violation.

``Jumping from friend to friend,'' she said. ``I was basically living out in the wash. I wanted to come here, but I was kind of reluctant because I've never been to a shelter before. They made me feel at ease right away. They were very in tune with the baby's needs - milk and diapers.''

Osgood said she grew up in the Santa Clarita Valley and had a business in Newhall, but a string of family problems and tragedies left her homeless. She has three children - ages 11, 8 and 2 - who are in foster homes.

``You never realize how quickly it could happen,'' she said. ``It seems that every time we get somewhere - it just seems like one thing after another.''

Osgood said she wants to find work, but it's difficult. Still, the shelter and local charities provide her with transportation, food and a place to stay - what she needs to repair her life.

``If you don't have a place to stay, you can't leave things anywhere, and the hard part about looking for work is you don't have a call-back number,'' she said. ``I'm hoping in the next couple months to be independent on my own, so I can get back to school ... and to bring my children home.''

A pair of young adults who gave their names as just Brian and Nicole also sought refuge at the shelter, though they were not sure they would stay because men and women are split up in separate trailers.

``I hope they give us a blanket,'' said Brian, 21.

``We live on the streets. All we have is each other,'' said Nicole, 19.

Both said they grew up in the Santa Clarita Valley and have been living on the streets off and on for about five years. Brian said he spends his days ``getting loaded,'' but said he is trying to get into a rehab program.

Asked how he has survived, he replied: ``Drugs equals money on the streets.''

During the downpour earlier this week, Brian and Nicole stayed at a motel. At times, they have slept under bridges or out in the canyons before their spot was cleared in a brush fire.

``You get hassled for sleeping at the shopping center,'' Brian said. ``You sleep in the mountains. You got to be away from civilization.''

Ken Dayton, 47, comes for the hot food and to socialize. He lives in an old trailer in the canyons and survives on odd jobs. It's his third year of coming to a shelter for food.

``The dinners are great,'' he said. ``I've been single all my life. I can burn water real good.

``Just because we're a little grubby, we're no different than anybody else.''

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Bernard Grogan, 29, prays in the Santa Clarita shelter for the homeless. He says he wants to stay in the area and build a church.(sect) (2 -- color) Paul Gilbert visits his sister, Sheila Osgood, and her 3-month-old son, Josh, at the Santa Clarita shelter.

(3) Sheila Osgood plays with her baby son, Josh, while waiting for dinner at the Santa Clarita shelter that opened in doublewide trailers on Friday and will be available to the homeless until March 15.

(4 -- 5) Ken Dayton, 47, above left, comes just for a meal, while homeless Bernard Grogan, 29, settles in for the night at the Santa Clarita winter shelter.

David Crane/Staff Photographer