WEST COVINA >> San Gabriel Valleys only shelter for homeless female veterans and their children has lost its South Walnut Avenue home to eviction.
The residents at Almost Home Transitional Housing, a rent-free temporary housing facility that helped 24 veterans and their 12 children this past year, hastily moved their belongings into the yard and moving trucks early Monday morning as their landlord changed the locks.
Founder Esperanza Ortega stayed positive as she disassembled a pair of bunk beds for the children.
(The landlord) may have broke our program in this home, but he didnt break our foundation and he didnt break our faith, Ortega said. This has only made us stronger.
The women will have accommodations for the next two weeks while they search for a new home.
A private donor paid for hotel rooms for the residents, which includes four combat veterans, a victim of domestic violence and five children. Ortega, exhausted from the lengthy court battle, said shes trying to think of it as a vacation.
Almost Home got a heads-up last week that their efforts to avoid eviction had failed. By the time five sheriffs deputies arrived with the propertys owner and two workers carrying new locks shortly after 7 a.m. Monday, the residents had boxed many of their belongings and rented storage space. The eviction requires the property owner to secure their belongings for 15 days while they move out, but he only needs to set aside one day for the actual move, Ortega said.
Friends, relatives and student volunteers from the Citrus College Veterans Network came to help Almost Home move.
Student Elizabeth Saucedo, an Iraq war veteran who helped build a garden behind the South Walnut Avenue home, said she was appalled by what she sees as the landlord reaping the benefits of the hard work put into the home.
This place is the only place like this in the San Gabriel Valley, she said. Vets should not be treated this way period, let alone veteran mothers with children.
She said the darker side of life after the military is often overlooked, particularly when it comes to homelessness.
All you see is the veteran parades, all you see is them flying flags and stuff, Saucedo said. You dont see this.
Homeowner Honghua Shang, a licensed real estate broker who operates EChain Realty in Monterey Park, took Ortega to court for a missed rent payment and claimed she never got permission to operate a transitional home on the site. However, Ortega said Shang was repeatedly made aware of the housing program, particularly because he had to approve months of extensive improvements made by volunteers from the Home Depot Foundation and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Squatters had badly damaged the home before Ortega and her residents moved in.
Court Commissioner William D. Dodson gave the sheriffs department permission to move forward with the eviction on Dec. 22.
Shang on Monday told reporters to get off his property.
Ortega said Realtor Arturo Alas, who ran against Congresswoman Grace Napolitano in the last election, is helping Almost Home find a new location.
Instead of paying what he asked, well put that money toward somewhere new, she said.
Ortega, who said she only paid with cash and that she did not have a mailing address for rent, plans to use the experience as a lesson for future dealings.
Everything will be done with cashier checks, witnesses, double signatures, she said. You have to protect yourself in black and white.
Ortega is hosting a fundraiser at 7 p.m. Jan. 17 at Azusas VFW Post 8070 for Almost Home and her Montebello-based veteran resource center, The Hook Up. Anyone interested in directly donating can also do it through GoFundMe at www.gofundme.com/almosthomevethousingcom or by visiting their website at www.almosthomevethousing.com.
