Waymakers youth shelters calling for holiday donations

Carol Carlson knows that the novel coronavirus pandemic can really weigh on children.

Carlson, the program director of the Waymakers Orange County youth shelters in Laguna Beach and Tustin, has seen it firsthand.

“We’re concerned about the fragility of the kids,” she said. “What’s happened is that kids who already were at risk or suffering from depression and anxiety, this has kind of caused even more isolation for them. They don’t have their peers or school or other places where they can have outlets for some of those feelings and symptoms, and they’re maybe living in a home where there’s been some financial strain because of the pandemic.”

Carlson said that homelessness also has increased among the 12- to 17-year-olds served by Waymakers, the Santa Ana-based nonprofit which also has a youth shelter in Huntington Beach.

And funds are low, also due to COVID-19. With local businesses also struggling, she is appealing to the public for help this holiday season.

Carlson, who first started volunteering at the Laguna Beach youth shelter in 1988, does not know who will be in each of the six beds of the Laguna Beach location from day to day. But she knows she wants to provide them with a holiday experience.

The Laguna Beach Youth Shelter, a three-story bungalow built in 1939, has been a mainstay in the community. It celebrated its 40th anniversary last year.

A tile message adorns a path outside at one of the Waymakers youth shelters on Tuesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“We’re asking for the community to give if they can,” she said. “We know everybody’s struggling right now, but we could really use some help during the holidays in particular, to be able to make sure we keep our essential services going and our doors open for the kids.”

Waymakers serves more than 140,000 people a year in Orange County, Carlson said, and each of the youth shelters houses about 100 kids per year as well.

She said the pandemic has caused the youth shelters to have the longest waitlists she has seen, and the struggle is keeping them going 24-7 given the constraints in place.

“It’s temporary shelter for children who are experiencing difficulty at home or have had a suicide attempt or threat, and need a safe respite to recover and stabilize,” Carlson said.

“Our goal always is for family reunification. We’re keeping them safe and working with them, we’re doing counseling, 24-hour care and teaching them coping skills. We’re working with the families to kind of restore some peace in their households and help them with safety planning for their child, then reunifying them so that they can hopefully go on to a little more successful days ahead.”

Waymakers’ Huntington Beach Youth Shelter, which has been open for 14 years, has 12 beds to serve youth in need.

The organization is doing its best to navigate the COVID-19 waters while giving some holiday cheer to the kids in need.

“The clients we serve predominantly are struggling anyway, so they have a lot of challenges,” Waymakers Executive Director Ronnetta Johnson said. “Anything we can do to help alleviate those challenges, especially at the holiday time, can make things a little bit more normal, so to speak. Helping them to have their gifts and just a little bit of brightness in their lives is really important.”

Donations can be made at waymakersoc.org/donate. Those who want to donate to a particular location can also contact that location directly.

The Laguna Beach Youth Shelter can be reached at (949) 494-4311, the Huntington Beach Youth Shelter at (714) 842-6600 and the Tustin Youth Shelter at (714) 714-0780.

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.