Poor Cut Adrift as SOS Closes to Relocate

COSTA MESA â€”  Abel Garcia sat in the cramped offices of Share Our Selves on Friday awaiting his turn for a bag of food that would help make ends meet for his family of eight.

“Do you know anywhere else to go to get food or clothes quickly?� Garcia asked. It was a question on the minds of many of the hundreds of needy clients who passed through the doors of SOS on its last day of operation at the Rea Community Center.

About half a block away on Arnold Street, Janice Davidson sat in her home thinking about SOS and of people like Garcia. She had fought long and hard to see this day, but its coming had brought a mixture of relief and sadness.

“We’ve all been torn apart by it,� said Davidson, who has wanted the charity agency out of her neighborhood for a long time. “I’m glad we’re going to have our neighborhood back again but sad that it had to come to this.�

The neighborhood strife, political maneuvering and legal wrangling that has marked the recent history of SOS came to an end Friday as the charity, one of Orange County’s largest, closed its doors for the first time in its 20-year history.

SOS had become a fixture in the westside neighborhood, providing emergency food, clothing and financial assistance for more than 5,000 families a month, in addition to operating a medical and dental clinic.

While staff and supporters were saddened by the closure, it is only temporary until the agency can move into new and bigger quarters in six to eight weeks.

Meanwhile, thousands of poor residents will be forced to look elsewhere for food, clothing and other emergency services.

“I have six children, so the food I can get here is very important,� said Garcia, 32, of Anaheim. A native of Guadalajara, Mexico, Garcia said he is unemployed and looking for factory work. “I was very upset when I heard (SOS) was going to close. Maybe they can tell me somewhere else I can go for help.�

Social welfare officials said the loss of services provided by SOS will place a tremendous burden on other charities that already face a bulging clientele and few resources to serve them.

“It’s a significant problem,� said Mark Lowry, manager of a food bank operated by the Community Development Council, a private poverty relief agency. “We are taking into consideration the closing of SOS and trying to direct some of our resources to surrounding service organizations. Unfortunately, SOS is not the only one having problems.�

SOS founder and executive director Jean Forbath said she is referring clients to the few agencies that distribute food monthly. Other charities that provide services daily have told her that they will not be able to handle the overflow, she said.

“But it’s not just the food,� she added. “We had two guys in the other day who found jobs in San Francisco, but they had no way to get there so we gave them bus fare. A woman had the battery die in her car, and we bought her another one. There are so many other things we do that keep people going everyday.�

For Forbath, who has made serving the needy through SOS a lifetime mission, the last day of activity at the Rea center was bittersweet.

“We felt like this was our neighborhood, our home, because all of the people we serve are right here; we were part of this neighborhood,� she said.

But others, like Davidson, did not agree.

Many who live in the neat, modest ranch homes surrounding the Rea center on Hamilton Street complained about alleged disruptions caused by SOS clients--there were too many of them traipsing through the neighborhood, they harassed children on their way to school and relieved themselves on the lawns.

“It just got too big--too much for any neighborhood, “ Davidson said. “They were never the cause of all the problems, but with so many people in the neighborhood, you couldn’t tell the good guys from the bad guys.�

The residents finally persuaded the City Council to evict SOS--with the exception of its medical clinic--from the city-managed community center. Despite pleas from other charity directors and the county’s religious leaders, the council subsequently denied requests to extend the agency’s stay.

Davidson said the community can now begin to clean itself up. They have begun a Neighborhood Watch program and are working with city officials to erase graffiti that laces walls and sidewalks.

SOS volunteers will begin moving out boxes, client records, folding chairs and kitchen equipment on Monday.

With support from the business community, the charity was able to purchase a $1.4-million, 12,000-square-foot industrial building at 1550 Superior Ave. The building must undergo extensive renovations before it is operational.

On Friday, the new address was being passed around on slips of notebook paper, brown paper lunch bags and anything else that SOS clients could find to write on.

“It’s a good thing they are not closing forever,� said Virginia Brown of Anaheim. A homeless mother of two, Brown said she has sought assistance at SOS for three or four years. “They never turn anyone away. That’s one reason why so many come here. A lot of these people who depend on SOS will be glad when they get things going again.�