Project Understanding and Cabrillo Economic Development Corp., two agencies serving the county's poor, have launched efforts to raise $1.7 million to purchase the De Anza Hotel on Ventura Avenue in Ventura and convert it to a shelter for some of the county's 2,000 homeless people.
If the project materializes, 14 low-income families living in the old hotel could be relocated to make room for 21 homeless families.
