Take a closer look
Click here to read a 10-year plan to end homelessness in Orange County.
Should you give money to a homeless person?
Paul says act on your conscience.
He knows of people on the streets making about $50 per day and they have places to live. His staff and volunteers will give out cards with toll-free phone numbers. The foundation will go to those who can't call. He says local agencies know best how to connect a homeless person with resources. |
The steps to a solution
 Paul Leon
Paul Leon wasn't prepared for the sight that caught him in 2007 when he stepped inside a cold weather shelter in Orange County.
Inside were 250 homeless people and 70 of those were children. His visit started as a MBA class assignment at UC Irvine and left such an impact that it transformed his career path from working as a county health administrator to operating a non-profit providing an array of services for homeless families. Paul told me convincing others that homelessness was a major problem in Orange County wasn't easy. "I'd get looks like I was nuts." 
I first heard about the Illumination Foundation when I met a doctor from Seattle. He had flown to Los Angeles and visited a motel used to provide shelter for homeless patients released from local hospitals.
I had served on a non-profit board of directors in Pasadena and as a dad who has adopted out of foster care I knew about the extent of homelessness in Los Angeles County. I was surprised to learn some of the stats about Orange County while interviewing Paul. The OC is second in the nation behind Dallas in terms of homeless children per population. "We have a lot of young children and one zip code in Santa Ana had more children than any other in the nation." Paul calls the county a tale of two cities that are physically close but culturally worlds apart. "Anaheim and Santa Ana rank high for violence and yet the mean income for Newport Coast is dramatically high. Yet 7 miles away is one of the poorest regions around." The county hasn't been equipped to handle the many needs of homeless people. "We were the only county of our size that didn't have a year round shelter or a public hospital." |
Homeless Truths
There are two myths that Paul dispelled during our conversation: illegal immigrants are a major cause of homelessness and the homeless families migrated to Orange County.
Paul says homeless children are mostly Caucasian followed by African American children. "Most of the kids living in the parks, on the beaches, or in the cars are white."
He says Hispanic families are "double and tripled up" in homes and apartments, but white children make up the largest demographic group of homeless children followed by African-American children.
He also said families seeking help through the foundation are not on the streets asking for money because they're too afraid to do so. He also said people who really want to get off the street temporarily can usually find a way.
There are 28,000 unstably housed children in Orange County schools. "Most of those children are Hispanic.
A false notion is homeless families moved to Orange County from other parts of the United States, but Paul says many of the homeless are local families.
"We have had nearly 7,000 families go through our program and the vast majority have come from a five-mile radius where they lived.
"We had a lot of families in Anaheim and a shelter opened in Laguna Beach but we couldn't find any families that wanted to go because they didn't want leave the area they knew. They're not transient."
Warning Signs
Poor education, poor health, domestic violence, and a surrounding violent environment are signs that a family risks enduring homelessness. Families seeking out the Illumination Foundation services have all four traits.
A child's reading ability is another indication.
"If children aren't reading by the second grade they will never catch up," said Paul. "Our children are so far behind that many will drop out by high school and they can't even compete."
He said the foundation began working with children from infancy to kindergarten to improve their chances of earning a quality education.
City Obstacles and Successes
Local cities were a challenge since many had the "not in my backyard mentality," said Paul. Costa Mesa never let the organization put down roots.
After seven years, breakthroughs have occurred and there are promising models emerging.
"The City of Stanton leased us a building for a dollar a year to put in case managers and begin a full-fledged program."
He said city soon had a decrease in the number of homeless and an 11 percent drop in the city's crime rate.
In 2013, Anaheim recognized its overall poor numbers and asked for help. The Illumination Foundation staff detected high levels of homelessness, poor grades, and widespread trauma affecting children and families.
The city secured a building for the foundation, joined with other non-profits, and coordinated efforts among a number of city departments like the police to reduce homelessness and the underlying reasons for the condition.
City-Citizen Partnership
Stanton had properties that were in dire need of renovation and made that available to the foundation for lease for a dollar per year.
Paul said a gathering of community volunteers led to an upgrade of 60 duplexes in a two-block area. "We currently have about 16 of the duplexes and we brought in hundreds of volunteers to help us paint and put in a community garden.
"You walk through the neighborhood now and you would never guess there were problems."
Mental health and substance abuse programs are key. Paul said a significant number of the families are mom and dad staying together. One or both of the parents has both mental illness and drug addiction.
"The kids get sucked in with them and they become collateral damage. This is a direct pipeline into the foster care program. Not having enough stable foster parents means a lot of single moms get into the system.
"They bounce from one placement to another and they have no life skills at age 16 or 17 and they end up on the street, meet a guy, and get pregnant.
"Most of the moms in our program have been in foster care or their parents were in foster care and lived at the Orangewood facility."
Landlords and Motels
I asked Paul if the local motel industry is a solution but he said select apartment building owners are more strategic and provide lasting results. "We're working with 12 apartment owners to build collaboration.
Motels are transient. It's better than the street but when you leave in a motel without many wrap around services it's worse in many ways because there's a lot of violence and a lot of addiction.
"We're really particular on the motels we are partner with and there are four where the manager is on site, the facilities are drug free and they're particular who they rent to."
Challenges and Uniqueness of Illumination Foundation
Paul says a lack of mental health services and what he calls "gross underfunding" in that area is a major challenge.
"Unless you have somebody who is severely mentally ill and is a real danger to themselves or others it's tough to get them help.
"We're one of the few [nonprofits] who will take someone with any degree of mental illness.
"We're also one of the few nonprofits with a shelter who will take a boy over the age of 10. Others don't because there's not enough housing and they don't want to mix pre-teen and teenage boys with women."
People seeking shelter but who test positive for drugs and alcohol are also turned down for services.
"If you go to a shelter and you're not sober, they probably won't take you in because you'll show a positive drug test.
"We look at the reduction and say you can't drink in our program but as along as you're trying. If you test positive for drugs we don't necessarily kick you out then you have to go to more rehabilitation meetings and test more often."
The Illumination Foundation isn't just pointing to a social problem in Orange County. Paul Leon and his staff are bringing resources together with local cities, landlords, and volunteers to provide a proven solution.
There are two myths that Paul dispelled during our conversation: illegal immigrants are a major cause of homelessness and the homeless families migrated to Orange County.
Paul says homeless children are mostly Caucasian followed by African American children. "Most of the kids living in the parks, on the beaches, or in the cars are white."
He says Hispanic families are "double and tripled up" in homes and apartments, but white children make up the largest demographic group of homeless children followed by African-American children.
He also said families seeking help through the foundation are not on the streets asking for money because they're too afraid to do so. He also said people who really want to get off the street temporarily can usually find a way.
There are 28,000 unstably housed children in Orange County schools. "Most of those children are Hispanic.
A false notion is homeless families moved to Orange County from other parts of the United States, but Paul says many of the homeless are local families.
"We have had nearly 7,000 families go through our program and the vast majority have come from a five-mile radius where they lived.
"We had a lot of families in Anaheim and a shelter opened in Laguna Beach but we couldn't find any families that wanted to go because they didn't want leave the area they knew. They're not transient."
Warning Signs
Poor education, poor health, domestic violence, and a surrounding violent environment are signs that a family risks enduring homelessness. Families seeking out the Illumination Foundation services have all four traits.
A child's reading ability is another indication.
"If children aren't reading by the second grade they will never catch up," said Paul. "Our children are so far behind that many will drop out by high school and they can't even compete."
He said the foundation began working with children from infancy to kindergarten to improve their chances of earning a quality education.
City Obstacles and Successes
Local cities were a challenge since many had the "not in my backyard mentality," said Paul. Costa Mesa never let the organization put down roots.
After seven years, breakthroughs have occurred and there are promising models emerging.
"The City of Stanton leased us a building for a dollar a year to put in case managers and begin a full-fledged program."
He said city soon had a decrease in the number of homeless and an 11 percent drop in the city's crime rate.
In 2013, Anaheim recognized its overall poor numbers and asked for help. The Illumination Foundation staff detected high levels of homelessness, poor grades, and widespread trauma affecting children and families.
The city secured a building for the foundation, joined with other non-profits, and coordinated efforts among a number of city departments like the police to reduce homelessness and the underlying reasons for the condition.
City-Citizen Partnership
Stanton had properties that were in dire need of renovation and made that available to the foundation for lease for a dollar per year.
Paul said a gathering of community volunteers led to an upgrade of 60 duplexes in a two-block area. "We currently have about 16 of the duplexes and we brought in hundreds of volunteers to help us paint and put in a community garden.
"You walk through the neighborhood now and you would never guess there were problems."
Mental health and substance abuse programs are key. Paul said a significant number of the families are mom and dad staying together. One or both of the parents has both mental illness and drug addiction.
"The kids get sucked in with them and they become collateral damage. This is a direct pipeline into the foster care program. Not having enough stable foster parents means a lot of single moms get into the system.
"They bounce from one placement to another and they have no life skills at age 16 or 17 and they end up on the street, meet a guy, and get pregnant.
"Most of the moms in our program have been in foster care or their parents were in foster care and lived at the Orangewood facility."
Landlords and Motels
I asked Paul if the local motel industry is a solution but he said select apartment building owners are more strategic and provide lasting results. "We're working with 12 apartment owners to build collaboration.
Motels are transient. It's better than the street but when you leave in a motel without many wrap around services it's worse in many ways because there's a lot of violence and a lot of addiction.
"We're really particular on the motels we are partner with and there are four where the manager is on site, the facilities are drug free and they're particular who they rent to."
Challenges and Uniqueness of Illumination Foundation
Paul says a lack of mental health services and what he calls "gross underfunding" in that area is a major challenge.
"Unless you have somebody who is severely mentally ill and is a real danger to themselves or others it's tough to get them help.
"We're one of the few [nonprofits] who will take someone with any degree of mental illness.
"We're also one of the few nonprofits with a shelter who will take a boy over the age of 10. Others don't because there's not enough housing and they don't want to mix pre-teen and teenage boys with women."
People seeking shelter but who test positive for drugs and alcohol are also turned down for services.
"If you go to a shelter and you're not sober, they probably won't take you in because you'll show a positive drug test.
"We look at the reduction and say you can't drink in our program but as along as you're trying. If you test positive for drugs we don't necessarily kick you out then you have to go to more rehabilitation meetings and test more often."
The Illumination Foundation isn't just pointing to a social problem in Orange County. Paul Leon and his staff are bringing resources together with local cities, landlords, and volunteers to provide a proven solution.
