GLENDALE BUILDS SAFETY NET AREA SHELTER'S RESOURCES ARE TESTED BY RISING TIDE OF THOSE NEEDING CARE.

Byline: EUGENE TONG  Staff Writer

GLENDALE - Failed marriages and drug use may have left Craig Brian Henry living on the streets and depending on the kindness of local charities, but he still has the soul of a poet.

A night spent downtown on Skid Row inspired this verse from the 45-year-old Pacoima native who has been homeless off-and-on since 2003:

``Take a deep breath, as the stench of death does linger as I look around ... cause surely you're the one to blame.''

It's quite a contrast to the warm cot and bright lights at the Glendale National Guard Armory emergency shelter, where Henry spent a night last week. Making the best use of funds, shelters and case management, city government, hospitals and nonprofit groups have built an effective safety net for their homeless.

``One of the good things is the city of Glendale has its own continuum of care,'' said Maggie Willis, associate executive director of PATH Achieve Glendale, which operates a 40-bed, year-round shelter that also offers counseling and transitional housing services.

``We're able to make adjustments and address needs much faster and can meet needs of families and first-time homeless -- the folks that are willing and able to work and get back on their feet.''

Yet some care providers say the only answer comes from individuals who take the initiative to change. David Earle, manager of the 150-bed emergency winter shelter at the Glendale armory operated by Volunteers of America, said about half the people in the room could transition out of homelessness.

``Whether they're ready to or not is another issue,'' he said.

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Agency counted 362 homeless in Glendale in 2005. The city received about $6.1 million in federal Housing and Urban Development funds in 2006, of which more than $500,000 went to community programs such as PATH Achieve.

The center serves about 1,100 homeless individuals or families per year, Willis said. The success stories are those who could resolve their problems and gradually transition from the dorm to permanent housing.

``We're very good at taking care of people for 30 days to two years,'' she said. ``But it's still very difficult. With housing expensive, if the landlord has a choice of choosing young professionals with a steady job and a family who has an eviction on their record, the chances of them being accepted is very slim.''

Steve Motley, 56, an Inglewood native who used to work as a driver before becoming homeless, credited the Achieve center with getting him off drugs and off the streets for a few years.

``But I couldn't find a place (to live),'' Motley said, adding that he had been staying with relatives in Moreno Valley until an argument turned him out. He slept at the emergency shelter last week.

``I've worked all my life,'' he said. ``I don't have nothing to be ashamed of.''

A sanctuary for the homeless, the winter shelter program operates between December and March and is funded by $240,000 from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. It's been full each night as temperatures dipped into the low-40s.

``We try to build a relationship with folks while they're there,'' Willis said.

Glendale Adventist Medical Center also offers one-night motel vouchers and referrals to the Achieve center before discharging homeless patients.

The decade-old program, which receives about $10,000 in city funds, assists about 100 people per year, said Bruce Nelson, the hospital's community services director. But it's only a stop-gap measure that tests their compassion and limited resources.

``Our responsibility is to provide medical care,'' Nelson said. ``As a human being, my responsibility may be greater than that.''

As reports surfaced of hospitals dumping homeless patients at Skid Row missions, Nelson said it's ``not an ethical response.''

``That doesn't mean I'm not sympathetic to their challenge,'' he said. ``They're trying to deliver them to a place where they have resources to get services. ... It's a no-win situation to the hospital to just discharge them to the street.

``We have more homeless people and more medically indigent people, and we have less dollars to accommodate them.''

Glendale's complementary programs, no matter how effective, have limitations. Earle cited one shelter client, a heroin addict in his late-50s who has spent most of his life behind bars or on the streets.

``I could say it's been 21 days and he hasn't been kicked out yet,'' he said. ``You're not going to change something like this. You can give them some help.''

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1) Mylan Trivanovich, 59, finds a place to stay at the city of Glendale Winter Shelter at the Glendale National Guard Armory Thursday night.

(2) People wait to enter at the city of Glendale Winter Shelter at the Glendale National Guard Armory Thursday night. Resources at the shelter are being stretched thin.

(3 -- color) Stephen Motley, 56, has been helped by shelter volunteers to battle his drug habit.

(4) - Craig Brian Henry

Homeless Pacoima native

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer