Tour offers glimpse of successful housing for those once homeless

Niecy Smith beamed when talking about how she can look at a room and figure out how to make it a welcoming oasis.

Smith’s suite at the Diamond Apartments in Anaheim holds several treasures, from the poster board displaying a picture of her daughter Marquitta, who died of natural causes at age 23 in 2007, to the bamboo plants that lend a serene vibe.

It’s Smith’s way to cope with the reality of living with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Diamond houses 35 residents who have either a mental or physical disability and were previously homeless. Smith, 58, moved in five years ago after years raising three children, in addition to fostering 52.

Smith, born in South Carolina, lived for several years in Los Angeles and, after taking a bullet while being robbed in a parking lot, moved to Whittier to escape a rough neighborhood and provide a safer environment for her children.

Smith is the kind of person the Friendship Shelter and Jamboree Housing Corp. hope to help with a facility in Laguna Beach.

Shelter and Jamboree officials want to build a 40-unit facility for the chronically homeless in Laguna Canyon at the site of the current Alternative Sleeping Location, an overnight emergency shelter that sleeps 45 individuals at a time.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines a chronically homeless person as one who lives with a mental or physical disability and has been continually homeless for a year or more or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years.

Project proponents would include the ASL as part of the facility — the number of beds would decrease to 35, resulting in a total capacity of 75.

Project advocates presented their idea to the City Council in April, held three community meetings in June and recently guided 20 Laguna Beach residents on a tour of two permanent housing establishments that also have support services — Diamond and Jackson Aisle Apartments in Midway City — to gather feedback.

Community members have voiced concerns, from the safety of the homeless clients and nearby neighbors to the proposed Laguna Beach project’s proximity to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center.

Proponents say increasing the options for the homeless population would reduce the number of police calls in the city and serve those most in need of help because they can’t live independently.

Shelter and Jamboree have yet to present any design plans. At this stage, it is too early to say whether the proposed facility would cater first to people with ties to Laguna Beach, as ASL does.

Fair-housing laws are the primary concern, Friendship Shelter Executive Director Dawn Price said.

“We intend to do everything within the law to work with the local people,” Price said. “We’re confident, based on our experience, that we will be able to accommodate the people we set out to serve.”

At Diamond, Smith receives support from Monika Khuc, a personal care coordinator with Telecare Corp., a recovery-centered program that serves adults with mental illness.

Khuc takes Smith to doctor’s appointments, including a once-a-month meeting with a psychiatrist, and ensures she is taking her medication.

“At first she had anger issues and it was hard to open up,” Khuc said of Smith. “I’ve built a rapport with her.”

Smith, who worked as a flight attendant, bank teller and welder at different stages of her life, needed to get through the anger she felt when a judge ordered her in 1999 to return her niece to the child’s birth mother after 10 years of caring for the girl, who she had raised since birth.

“I almost went to jail because I cussed at the judge,” Smith said. “I’m glad [the mother] got her life together, and it gave the child time to know who her mother really is.

“I get attached to kids. I love children.”

Smith said she stopped being a foster parent after the judge’s order and spent time on the streets or at churches and motels.

She learned about Diamond from an Orange County Mental Health Care Agency representative and decided to apply.

All potential residents for the Laguna Beach facility would complete a background check, and registered sex offenders would be prohibited from living there, said Helen Cameron, Jamboree Housing Corp.’s special-needs resident manager.

An applicant with a felony conviction for drugs, violence or a crime that threatens the health and safety of others could be refused housing, Cameron added.

The facility would be staffed around the clock. In addition to case managers, resident services coordinators would be available on-site seven days a week.

Smith said she likes the quiet she’s found at Diamond while walking and praying and is excited to begin cooking meals again for her neighbors this fall in the facility’s kitchen.