San Fernando Valley : HOME AID

Faced with hundreds of homeless in a city with just two private shelters, the Glendale Housing Authority has moved to buy an apartment building and use it as a haven for those without a home. The decision complements plans to open a service center providing job training and financial management help early next year.

The agency will spend $425,000 in federal low-income housing funds to buy a 68-year-old building and an adjacent vacant lot on Orange Grove Avenue. The structure, which was red-tagged after the Northridge quake, will be either repaired or rebuilt.

The goal is to round out Glendale’s growing web of homeless services with low-priced apartments for people re-entering mainstream life.

“On any given night, there are between 240 and 360 homeless people living on the streets and in their cars,” said Paul Bandy, co-chairman of the Glendale Homeless Coalition. “The problem is really growing among the people who are at risk of becoming homeless, those who are one paycheck away from the street. We feel there may be up to 10,000 people in the city like that.”

Madalyn Blake, the city’s housing director, said the new apartments will be the final part of a three-step program designed to help people become independent again.