HUNTINGTON BEACH : Social Work Eases ‘Quite a Guilt Load’

Near the end of Ben Davis’ 35-year aerospace career, he began to see what he thought was a downside to the hefty government defense contracts that had helped pay his salary.

“Every year, I’d see where more of the budget was being spent on (defense) than on social-welfare programs, and I felt bad,” he said. “I carried quite a guilt load.”

So, shortly after his retirement more than two years ago, Davis immersed himself in a church-based volunteer effort to help the homeless get off the streets and back into productive lives.

His work as a leading organizer of the widely acclaimed Interfaith Shelter Network recently earned him the Huntington Beach 1990 Humanitarian Award, presented by the city’s Human Resources Board to a social-service volunteer. He was picked from among 12 finalists.

The countywide program involves more than 50 churches, each of which provides shelter for up to 12 homeless residents for two weeks. Residents rotate to different churches over three months, during which they are given food, clothing, a place to sleep and job leads.

Most soon get work, but to remain in the program, they must set aside 80% of earnings for a deposit and first month’s rent for a room or apartment. In about two years, about 70% of residents have reversed their homelessness, organizers say.

“I figured I can afford to give up my golf for a while and do this,” said Davis, 65, who was a product line manager who worked in the marketing department of the defense contractor.

When his church, Community Methodist in Huntington Beach, was approached about being in the program in the spring of 1989, its leaders doubted that they had the necessary facilities.

“But they sent me out to see what was going on with this,” Davis said. “After I found out about the program, I knew I had to get my church involved, and I convinced them to participate.”

Last year, the network more than doubled its participating churches. Davis, who was the lead organizer in Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and parts of Garden Grove and Los Alamitos, said he recruited at least 13 new churches this year.

“I knew this thing would only work if we got more and more churches involved,” he said. “It’s not easy to get churches to commit. I spend a lot of time knocking on doors and on the phone.”

Davis devotes 20 to 40 hours a week to the effort. He has sought churches outside his area and helped create similar programs in San Bernardino and the San Fernando Valley, said Vivian Borns, a selection committee member of the Human Resources Board.

“He not only volunteers with the homeless, but he encourages others to volunteer,” Borns said.

“It’s people like Ben that make a difference. Some people talk, but he gets out and does things.”