WORKING POOR BATTLING TOUGH ODDS; MANY USING COUNTY SHELTERS BECAUSE THEY CAN'T AFFORD HOUSING.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer

Cari Stachlowki wandered into the Conejo Winter Shelter one recent blustery evening, grateful for the hot meal and the chance to spend the night in the warm community room of a Thousand Oaks church.

Stachlowki is homeless, like the other clients - most of them downtrodden men with shabby clothes and tough tales. But while burdened with problems of her own, optimism abounds in Stachlowki, who describes herself as a ``working, single mom - poor and proud.''

Despite a surgery two years ago that cost her two jobs and $10,000 in medical bills, she holds out hope that she can save enough money from her day-care job in Thousand Oaks to afford a permanent place for herself and her 13-year-old son.

``That's why I've been using the shelter,'' she said, ``to regroup, save money and get back into a new place.''

Stachlowki is among the estimated one-third of those who use winter shelters in Ventura County who are either seeking a job or working regularly. The working poor generally earn enough to pay for food, transportation and other expenses, officials say, but not enough for permanent housing.

Stachlowki conceded that roaming with her son from shelter to shelter is less than ideal, but said this is the only way she can become and remain self-sufficient.

``It's been a nightmare,'' she said. ``But I try to explain to my son that life is not like a bowlful of cherries, and you will become stronger because of it.''

Among hurdles facing the working poor are limited job skills, spotty work histories, no transportation or telephone, limited opportunities for grooming, drug and alcohol problems or the prospect of getting arrested for trespassing while living outdoors.

``Sometimes they have trouble just getting to a job interview,'' said Karol Schulkin, supervisor of the county's Homeless Services Program. ``And if you're in an upscale community, the stylishness of your clothing, your grooming, your dental work, your hairstyle all matter. You need to be presentable to be competitive.''

The working poor are often desperate for cash as well, living from one day to the next on minimum wages earned as day laborers.

``The money you make you have to live on,'' said James, 39, who grew up in Thousand Oaks and, like many men at the Conejo Winter Shelter, did not want to be identified as he prepared to spend the night at the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

James said he has spent the past few weeks living in local shelters, rising at 4 a.m. to walk several miles to a temporary agency, where he earns about $6 an hour doing construction cleanup and other manual labor.

The money is often spent as soon as it is earned, he said.

``You can't get ahead on it,'' he said. ``You can't help yourself to do anything because you don't make enough money to save anything.''

Mike O'Meara, 42, says he knows that same feeling after 20 years of living hand to mouth, often on the streets. He says it's been even tougher lately because he's been unable to find work.

``I don't care if it's digging ditches or whatever, there's no jobs,'' O'Meara said at the Conejo Winter Shelter. ``So I spent the day collecting cans. It took me half of yesterday and all of today to make $6. As far as a regular job, I can't go out there. I don't have the clothes for it, and I can't get the clothes until I get something in my pocket.''

County officials say there are at least 1,850 homeless residents in Ventura County, most living in the Ventura or Oxnard areas, followed by Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks.

Minimum wage

Officials like Karen Ingram of Lutheran Social Services, which helps coordinate the Conejo Winter Shelter, say roughly one-third of the homeless residents have jobs - albeit usually temporary positions for minimum wage.

``We've had our success stories - those who've saved their money and in the end been able to get a room to rent,'' she said. ``But even if you can find someone a job and they can't afford rent, how does it help?''

Welfare reform and the trend toward replacing repetitive, menial jobs with computers or automation have further complicated the struggle.

The working poor also face challenges unique to the east county areas.

Thousand Oaks has an ordinance that prohibits the storing of personal property on public land, which can lead to the confiscation of a homeless person's few worldly possessions if left unattended.

And the only temp agency in the area offering day labor, Labor Ready in Thousand Oaks, is relocating to Woodland Hills this week, thus eliminating a prime source of jobs for the area's working poor.

Affordable housing

But the single greatest obstacle is finding affordable housing, which is in extreme demand in Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks despite officials' efforts to make as much of it available as possible while rental and housing prices climb in a rebounding real estate market.

``Housing in the east county tends to be more expensive,'' with the median rent being $840 in Thousand Oaks and $750 in Simi Valley, said Douglas Tapking, executive director of the Area Housing Authority of Ventura County.

Each city offers several programs to help the working poor find affordable housing.

Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks officials work with landlords to provide some apartments or transitional housing at reduced rents. And people who qualify can have 70 percent of their rent paid by the federal government.

There are 785 families, seniors or disabled people on the waiting list for these programs in Thousand Oaks and 1,010 in Simi Valley.

This shortage will be the topic of an affordable-housing summit planned for Thousand Oaks in February or March.

The working poor are ``a growing population and one that is typically not well-served because private developers can't build homes at a rate that people who are lower-income, working-class poor can afford,'' Tapking said.

A recent review of the Thousand Oaks general plan found a need for creating more affordable housing, especially with an estimated shortfall of 660 units for very low-income people and 767 units for low-income individuals or families.

``Very low income'' is considered 50 percent or less of the median income of a family of four. In Thousand Oaks the median is $56,856, while very low is pegged at $30,550 or less.

Such housing studies consider spending any more than 30 percent of income on housing as overpaying.

But a recent Simi Valley housing survey found the average one-bedroom apartment started at $750 a month, whereas a 40-hour-per-week, minimum-wage job pays $840 a month, or $10,080 a year.

In Simi Valley, where very low-income is $30,500, ``the demand is exceeding the supply for affordable units,'' said Dulce Conde-Sierra, the city's deputy director for housing and special projects. ``And there's very low vacancy rates for those units.''

In the face of these problems, officials from city and county agencies have partnered with community groups to fashion a social safety net for the homeless, working poor and those struggling on the verge of homelessness. It involves a network of winter shelters and one-stop centers.

Simi Valley has the Samaritan Center, where the homeless can get services from food and clothing to a mailing address and phone services so they can seek employment. The center also coordinates a local winter shelter, which like the one in Thousand Oaks is held each night in a different church or synagogue.

Dianne Hooley, director of the Samaritan Center, says she has seen a hopeful trend lately with more homeless people taking a risk and applying for jobs. She says the aggressive outreach by private and public groups appears to be helping.

``To people who have been homeless for a while, it gets to be old,'' she said. ``It's hard to live on the streets, and I hear more and more people saying, I really don't want to live like this; I want to make some changes in my life.

``That's encouraging, because they have to want to make that step. Then we can help them.''

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PHOTO Peter Schraml performs laundry duties for homeless clients at the Samaritan Center in Simi Valley.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News