FRIEND TO HOMELESS LEAVING DEDICATED SHELTER EMPLOYEE IS MOVING ON.Byline: ERIC LEACH Staff Writer SIMI VALLEY Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. -- For the past decade, John Purvis John Purvis (born July 6, 1938 in St Andrews) is a British politician, and a Member of the European Parliament for Scotland for the Conservative Party. His first session in the European Parliament was from 1979 to 1984, for the Mid-Scotland and Fife seat. has been helping homeless people find shelter on cold, rainy nights and even has offered some of them jobs. He has gone beyond the call of duty directing the Public Action to Deliver Shelter program, friends say, offering overnight stays from October to April at six churches and the Simi Valley Knights of Columbus Knights of Columbus, American Roman Catholic society for men, founded (1882) at New Haven, Conn. (where its headquarters are still located), by Father Michael J. McGivney. hall. Now Simi SIMI Sea Ice Mechanics Initiative SIMI Search for Intelligent Monkeys on the Internet SIMI Students Islamic Movement in India SIMI Society of Irish Motor Industry SIMI Smallholder Irrigation Markets Initiative Valley's Samaritan Center, which sponsors the PADS program, is scrambling to find someone to replace Purvis, who recently announced his resignation. ``It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a for me to move on to something else,'' he said. Purvis is a writer and building contractor building contractor n → contratista m/f de obras building contractor n → entrepreneur m (en bâtiment) building contractor and took responsibility for the homeless shelters Homeless shelters are temporary residences for homeless people. Usually located in urban neighborhoods, they are similar to emergency shelters. The primary difference is that homeless shelters are usually open to anyone, without regard to the reason for need. on a volunteer basis in 1995, eventually getting paid $1,200 a month without benefits for the part-time winter job seven nights a week. ``He's been very dedicated,'' said Virginia Nelson, director of the Samaritan Center, which offers food, showers, laundry services, clean clothes and counseling to homeless people in Simi Valley during the morning hours, Monday through Friday. Nelson said Purvis has been going to the shelters seven nights a week during the winters from 7:45 p.m. to 11 p.m. to check in homeless people seeking refuge, making sure they have had tuberculosis tests tuberculosis test Any of a number of tests used to detect past exposure to, or current infection by M tuberculosis. See Mantoux test, Tuberculin skin test. Tuberculosis test 1. and sometimes helping them with their individual problems. ``He does intakes on all the clients, and if a volunteer doesn't show up, he spends the night there,'' she said. `` ... He's a great person. ... There was a lady who came in one night with her children, and John and his wife gave one of the children a birthday party. The little girl was just overwhelmed.'' Without a replacement, the program could be in serious jeopardy, she said. ``If we don't have somebody put this together, we won't have any kind of winter shelter program here,'' she said. Purvis said that during the 10 years he has been coordinating the shelter program, he has seen homeless people drift in and out of the area, with some coming back year after year. ``I've watched some people age, very dramatically in some cases,'' he said. ``Some of them die, an average of about a person a year, from the effects of drug or alcohol abuse, or exposure. You catch people in very unique situations.'' He recalled a couple from Idaho who came to a Simi Valley shelter a few days after the man had open-heart surgery open-heart surgery Any surgical procedure opening the heart and exposing one or more of its chambers, most often to repair valve disease or correct congenital heart malformations (see congenital heart disease). . ``At the other end of the age spectrum, we've had babies about 32 months old,'' he said, noting that about 100 people register in the shelter over the winter, staying from one night to the whole season. `` ... I felt like Diogenes walking around holding up the lantern to anyone who needed a home for the night.'' Although he doesn't know exactly what he will do next, he said he feels an obligation to help others. ``My wife and I were foster parents for a while, then I moved into helping the homeless,'' he said. ``The object is to leave the world a little bit better place and help people along in some sort of situation.'' eric.leach@dailynews.com (805) 583-7602 HOW TO HELP People interested in more information about the Public Action to Deliver Shelter program in Simi Valley can call Virginia Nelson at (805) 579-9166. CAPTION(S): box Box: HOW TO HELP (see text) |
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