Forum to Examine Homelessness in County

A Community Forum in Newbury Park will address homelessness in Ventura County: Who are the homeless? What are the causes? What are their needs and what can we do?

Denise Cortes, Area Director for Lutheran Social Services Southern California, will lead the forum on Friday, March 2 at 7 p.m. at the Conejo Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 3327 Old Conejo Road in the Songbird Office Park. Cortes will talk about the reality and myths of homelessness and the work of Lutheran Social Services, a nonprofit with more than 50 programs to meet human needs, many of them assisting those without a roof over their heads.

Lutheran Social Services helps the homeless with emergency services, longer-term help, housing programs and transportation. Its emergency services assist 60,000 individuals and families in Southern California with food, clothing, short-term motel vouchers, winter and year-round emergency shelters, transportation and access to showers, to name a few. Housing programs include short- and long-term transitional living with case management to help people move toward secure and independent shelter.

The nonprofit has wider scope programs that benefit the homeless. Among them are education and training, mental and behavioral health, senior support and aid to the developmentally disabled.

The event, sponsored by the Conejo Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Community Forum, is open to the public and free. Donations are welcome. For information, visit forum.cvuuf.org or contact the church office at (805) 498-9548.