HOUSING FOR HOMELESS IS EYED NUNS, OTHERS WANT SHARE OF COUNTY FUNDING.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS Staff Writer

An $80 million plan to deal with homelessness throughout Los Angeles County -- not just on Skid Row -- has officials in the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys considering how to tap into the funding.

Under the massive spending deal approved last week by the county Board of Supervisors, an order of nuns in the Antelope Valley hopes it can get some money to convert a former home into a shelter for homeless women with children.

In Santa Clarita, the $80 million spending plan has at least one organization considering developing transitional housing.

The plan has not been without controversy. Earlier this year, Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich argued that it would not reduce homelessness, but simply spread Skid Row-type problems countywide.

But last week, Antonovich joined his four colleagues in unanimously approving the plan, and said strong community outreach must be a key part of the effort.

``Supervisor Antonovich wants to make sure that all these different plans are community-coordinated projects,'' said Norm Hickling, Antelope Valley deputy for the supervisor.

government ... and they're not just forced on the community.''

A 2005 review found about 88,000 homeless in Los Angeles County, with 11,275 of them in the San Fernando Valley and part of the Santa Clarita Valley.

The Antelope Valley and another part of Santa Clarita Valley had 3,544 homeless.

During warmer months in the Santa Clarita Valley -- before the winter shelter opens -- the homeless sleep along the Santa Clara River, under bridges and in cars.

Linda Malerba, a board member of the organization that runs the winter shelter, also is director of Lutheran Social Services, which serves 150 homeless people a year.

The Santa Clarita-based group provides guidance and life skills to the homeless, and also serves about 150 individuals a year who are at risk for homelessness.

``Most Santa Clarita homeless want to stay in Santa Clarita because it's a safe community,'' Malerba said. ``Most of them have the ability to become self-sufficient. They're not necessarily substance abusers or mentally ill.''

The area could use transitional housing, said Malerba, who is part of the San Fernando Valley Homeless Coalition, which plans to propose at least one project under the $80 million initiative.

Meanwhile, an order of nuns called St. Joseph's Manor hopes to obtain about $500,000 to turn a former house in the Littlerock area into a center for homeless women with children, Hickling said.

The nuns envision up to 20 living units where participants could get help finding work and becoming self-sufficient.

Another project to expand a shelter in Lancaster run by Catholic Charities has already received $1 million from the county.

Last year, the Board of Supervisors approved $20 million to add more year-round shelter beds. And the recent approval of the $80 million one-time expenditure for emergency, transitional and permanent housing comes on top of another $15.5 million in ongoing funding for homeless programs the board approved in April.

Homeless advocates have long argued that the homeless should be helped in their own communities instead of being forced to move to Skid Row for services.

The county's regional initiative to fight homelessness would put a 30-bed center in each supervisorial district to deal with the chronically homeless, providing mental health assistance and drug and alcohol counseling.

Supervisors are still working out where to put the centers, which would each have a 10-bed facility off-site for homeless individuals needing recuperative care.

Supervisors, expecting some community opposition, have included $800,000 in the plan for community outreach.

Santa Clarita City Councilman Bob Kellar said the county's $80 million anti-homelessness plan is a strong effort.

But even though money could be available, it doesn't mean Santa Clarita needs a permanent shelter, he said.

``(Homelessness) is certainly (an issue) that raises a lot of concern by citizens,'' he said. ``But I have also found it interesting that people say, we must have a homeless shelter, we must do this, we must do that.

``As soon as they've found out that it's going to be started on their street, then the discussion changes dramatically.''

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) John Knight, 60, above, holds up a sign pleading for help outside the St. Anthony Foundation in San Francisco. Mel Beetle, 66, left, sits in his room at the Raman Hotel in San Francisco. The nation's homeless population is not getting bigger, but older, according to researchers.

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press