Some Smolder Over Fire Sale : Charity: Laguna’s chronic homeless wonder why they are denied clothing donated to victims of blaze.

LAGUNA BEACH —  At first glance, the fellowship hall at Laguna Presbyterian Church could easily be mistaken for the clothing section at a department store. There are racks laden with men’s tweed jackets, brightly colored dresses in a variety of sizes and hundreds of pairs of blue jeans.

These are just the leftovers--thousands of clothing items donated to help Laguna Beach fire victims that they didn’t want, or couldn’t use. Today and Saturday, beginning each day at 9 a.m., the Laguna Fire Relief Organization will hold a rummage sale to dispose of the mountains of garments collecting dust in the Fellowship Hall and an adjacent former bank building. Officials of the relief organization say the proceeds will go into a continuing fund to provide financial assistance to fire victims--mostly those whose homes were uninsured.

But news of the sale has struck an angry chord among the city’s homeless, some of whom said that they were turned away when they asked for some of the donated clothing.

An ironic consequence of the outpouring of donations that followed last month’s fire is that this beach community, which has always prided itself on a liberal approach to social issues, is coming under criticism for discriminating against the chronically homeless in favor of a new group of “homeless rich.”

“I went there to try to get a pair of shoes because mine were three sizes too big,” said No. 1 Unnamed Archer a 63-year-old homeless man known locally as “the greeter” because he spends his days standing on a corner downtown waving to visitors.

“They told me that they were only for people who were homeless from the fire. What’s the difference between me and them? I don’t have a home either--I just haven’t had one for longer.”

Brian Keatley, assistant program manager at Episcopal Services Alliance’s South Laguna office, which serves the homeless year-round, agreed that “it’s been kind of tricky because all of this aid has come in from the fire and the homeless feel resentful.

“I understand where they’re coming from. It’s hard for us because sometimes we struggle for months with no food or clothing on the shelves and it’s hard to get a response from the community.”

Meanwhile, other charitable organizations countywide have voiced concern that long-term social needs are being overshadowed by the recent fires.

“I’m sorry for people who lost $600,000 homes,” said Vince Kontny, chairman of the United Way campaign. “But what we’re trying to remind people is that there are other real needs that we also need to focus on.” For the moment, the fire victims are generating the most public sympathy and consequently, most donations of money and clothing.

The Laguna Fire Relief Organization, made up of church members and other community members, mobilized early during the crisis to become the main drop-off point for donated clothing. Good Samaritans from around the county scoured their attics for used clothes and converged on the site with trunkloads of jeans, shoes and shirts.

The Neiman-Marcus Co. donated more than 12,000 jackets, blouses, pants, skirts and other clothes. The outpouring of support was so tremendous that a few days after the fire, relief workers were begging the public not to bring in any more clothing.

According to spokesman Doug Landrum, the relief organization received enough clothes to outfit fire survivors “five and six times over” and even turned away donations. However, he said, the organization restricted eligibility largely to honor the wishes of people who had given specifically for fire victims.

Landrum said that anyone with economic difficulties not associated with the fire was told to go elsewhere.

He said relief volunteers directed those people to the Episcopal services group. The Laguna Fire Relief Organization also sent some extra clothes to the group and other organizations for distribution, he said.

“They (the homeless) know where to go,” Landrum said. “ESA is right down the road, they are well-served there and no one is turned away.”

Landrum also said relief officials decided to serve only fire survivors because they would feel “uncomfortable” mingling with homeless people.

“We were concerned we wouldn’t get as many people outfitted if we had a facility where anybody could come in and be served regardless of whether they were involved in the fire or economically disadvantaged in the normal course,” Landrum said.

Keatley, however, said many of his clients felt they had gotten shabby treatment. On Thursday, a middle-aged homeless woman who comes to ESA three times a week for a meal and a shower said she is angered by the seeming indifference to the plight of poor people like herself and the attention given to the “homeless rich.”

“All of a sudden these rich people lose their homes and everything is being done for them,” said the woman, who identified herself only as Revelle. “I think it’s unfair. Just because I wasn’t rich in the first place.”