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# 11 Call it a comeback
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/11-call-it-a-comeback/
- Published: 2006-06-10T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T18:17:55.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: local, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless, Homelessness

uation in which they may suffer from another failure, which can be a dramatic setback in getting them housed,” DeRose said. “It takes a lot of effort for our caseworkers to build the trust and to build a relationship with our clients, and the last thing we would want to do is to damage that relationship.”

DeRose said much of the substance abuse is a symptom of other problems, either medical or emotional, and once those core issues are addressed, the abuse goes away.

“We definitely support a period of stabilization before someone is placed in permanent housing,” DeRose said. “We encourage people to go into rehab and address the issues which are troubling them. It happens at different times for different people.”

Mendez, who was introduced to alcohol at an early age by her mother, said caseworkers need not worry about drug abusers or alcoholics enrolling in the program because those who are under the influence will not want to commit to the responsibilities that come with it, including having to meet with caseworkers several times a week.

“If a person wants to get off the street, they have to be willing to do something to help themselves,” Mendez said.“You can’t just come into a facility like (OPCC) and automatically be put in housing somewhere. You have to do some kind of work … and have some kind of income,because housing is very difficult to find around here.General relief isn’t going to cut it.”

Those enrolled in the Chronic Homeless Program are, by definition, the most difficult to reach. They’ve been homeless the longest and are the most resistant to change, according to service providers.

“It’s really about baby steps in the beginning,” said de la Rosa, Mendez’s caseworker. “There are serious trust issues because many (homeless) have been abused, robbed, taken advantage of. It’s really scary for them and sort of inconceivable for them to think that they will be in their own home.You just have to keep trying, and after a while you begin to see a little ray of hope and then it just takes on a life of its own.”

Mendez said she became homeless in her early 20s after a failed marriage. However, she admits as a teen she ran away from home constantly, rebelling against authority and the alcoholic mother who force-fed her prescriptions drugs and booze as a child to keep her quiet. The alcohol became a way for Mendez to forget about her problems, but in the end, it contributed to her prolonged battle with homelessness.

“There are quite a few women who have been married and eventually grow into drugs or alcohol,” Mendez said. “It’s either involved in the beginning (of the marriage), creating that shift to fail, or it gets picked up along the way.”

Following her divorce, Mendez said she lived in a car and got a job at fast food restaurants or waitressing at bars. A few months turned into a few years, until she eventually lost her car and began sleeping on the streets. She grew up in San Bernardino, but bounced around the Los Angeles area while she was homeless.

She moved to Santa Monica because the word on the streets from her fellow homeless friends was that Santa Monica was more compassionate than other cities. Mendez heard the city was kind to people like her, offering programs and free food. Years then turned into decades, until living on the streets became routine.

“When you are on the streets so long, you know how the police work and you know how to get by every day — what you’re supposed to do and what you can’t do, where not to be caught sleeping, where to eat, shower, get clean clothes, medical help,” Mendez said.“You’ve got it down to a science and then someone approaches you with an offer you can’t refuse.”

But Mendez did at first. It took de la Rosa a few visits to get Mendez to trust her enough to listen to what the program had to offer.

“I was scared. They wanted to take me out of my element … and learn how to deal with landlords, bills and house cleaning,” Mendez said. “It’s a little overwhelming. Basically, I didn’t know how to do any of that.”

> “I was scared. They wanted to take me out of my element … and learn how to deal with landlords, bills and house cleaning. It’s a little overwhelming. Basically, I didn’t know how to do any of that.” — CHRONIC HOMELESS, from page 10

Since moving into her apartment just over a year ago, Mendez has had to learn a lot of skills, from how to use her dishwasher to making sure her bills are paid each month. Everything seems new to her, she said, including vacuuming. de la Rosa remembers receiving a call from Mendez shortly after she moved into her apartment. Mendez was frantic, afraid that she would be evicted for putting thin lines in her carpet from the vacuum cleaner.

It turned out, the lines were simply caused by the vacuum’s wheels, and would disappear within a few hours, “but Donna didn’t know that,” de la Rosa said. “She thought she had ruined the whole carpet. It was quite refreshing actually, to explain it to her and walk her through the process. Donna has really come a long way.”

Mendez said she still doesn’t use her dishwasher and just recently turned on her electric oven for the first time. She didn’t cook anything. She just wanted to see if she knew how it worked.

“You’re just so used to not having to worry about anything except yourself,” Mendez said. “Then you’re brought indoors, into this environment that you are so unfamiliar with. It’s hard for people to understand, but having lived on the streets for 25 years, things like a phone or just learning how to interact with your neighbors, those are all new to me. I have to learn what that’s like all over again.”

While adjusting to a new home can be difficult, locating an apartment that is affordable in Santa Monica can prove to be even more of a challenge.

Johnny Haro and Billy Upchurch are clients of the St. Joseph Center. Both said in interviews in May that they have been waiting for at least four months to find an apartment in or around Santa Monica that would accept housing vouchers. They found there are very few available, because many landlords no longer accept vouchers as they can get more money on the open market.

“It’s been rough finding a place, just because you’re talking about Santa Monica — a pretty competitive place to look for an apartment,”said Upchurch, 35, who became homeless about three years ago after a company he was working for in Bakersfield laid him off and he had no means to get back home to Texas. He managed to hitch a ride to Santa Monica, a place he heard had services for the homeless. Upchurch is currently living on the streets here while he waits for an apartment.

“My caseworker and I have been all around the city, it seems, and we’ve had some luck in finding places,” Upchurch added. “But it hasn’t been easy.”

DeRose said one of the biggest obstacles in the program is mastering the housing component. As rents continue to rise and more affordable housing is converted into condos, the more difficult it becomes to find landlords who will accept vouchers.

Gwen Wonder, executive director of the Action Apartment Association, which represents landlords in Santa Monica, said the rules regarding subsidized housing have become so restrictive that they have pushed more landlords to opt out of the program. Wonder said the amount of money offered for each voucher pales in comparison to what landlords can get by renting to those who are not considered “low income.” “(Landlords) are less eager to accept vouchers now,” she said. “However, there are those who have accepted tenants on Section 8 and other housing assistance because they feel these folks deserve to have a nice, comfortable and secure place to live.”

DeRose said Upchurch and Haro are close to securing housing and should sign leases soon. But there is still concern for others, including families, who are often the most difficult to house together because of the lack of apartments big enough to accommodate more than two people.

“We’ve had a lot of success, but the costs are increasing and it is becoming more challenging,” DeRose said.

As soon as Haro, 45, finds an apartment, he said he wants to work towards receiving his General Education Diploma, and then hopefully land a permanent job. He currently works as a cashier at LAX, but the job is seasonal. He currently resides in a transitional housing shelter.

“I think a happy ending is coming up for me,” said Haro, who became homeless five years ago when he lost a construction job and was forced by his mother to move out. He said he lived in his car, taking odd jobs when he could, but after a while he couldn’t keep his head above water and drowned in debt, forcing him to lose his last valuable possession, his car.

“At that point, I felt like all hope was lost,” Haro said. “But after working with folks at St. Joseph,and becoming enrolled in the program, I’m now on my way to getting my own place. My only goal is to get my G.E.D. and maybe in a year or two, purchase another car and keep continuing in the direction I’m going.”

Upchurch, who has been diagnosed with a mental disability and cannot work around large groups of people, said he hopes to find an apartment and possibly “a woman.”

“It’s going to be a journey,” he said.“I still don’t know what I’ll do, but one thing’s for sure, I don’t want to go back to the streets.”

Firmly entrenched in her apartment, Mendez is looking to continue attending her daily AA meetings while trying to maintain her new life indoors.She doesn’t have any big plans.

“I just want to make sure I keep what I have,” she said. “Sometimes I think about going back out (on the streets) for a night and sleep with some of my friends. But just my luck, I’d get a ticket for sleeping and it’s not worth it just to relive the moment.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 10, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/061006.pdf?ref=smdp.com)