Fish Harbor Area Inc

It was seven years ago that Debby O'Connor first delivered two bags of groceries to a homeless couple and their newborn baby. That couple, O'Connor said, now have six children and are still moving from cheap apartments to motels and shelters in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. "It upsets us to see children living in that kind of poverty," O'Connor said. "Things are tough out there for a lot of people." As the executive director of the nonprofit Fish Harbor Area Inc.

It was seven years ago that Debby O'Connor first delivered two bags of groceries to a homeless couple and their newborn baby. That couple, O'Connor said, now have six children and are still moving from cheap apartments to motels and shelters in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. "It upsets us to see children living in that kind of poverty," O'Connor said. "Things are tough out there for a lot of people." As the executive director of the nonprofit Fish Harbor Area Inc.

The city received $520,000 in federal funding for a variety of uses after several weeks of uncertainty. The Community Development Block Grant money will be used toward improving public facilities, social services and administrative costs. Four area social services that provide help for the homeless--FISH-Harbor Area Inc., Serving People In Need, Orange County Interfaith Shelter and the YWCA Hotel--will share about $42,000.

The county expects to start approving up to $1 million in no-interest loans within the next six weeks for residents in danger of eviction. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved four nonprofit organizations as disbursers of the money. One-time loans of up to $2,000 per household will be made available to anyone having trouble making a rent payment or security deposit. The loans are part of a program designed to prevent homelessness in Orange County, Supervisor Harriett M.

The City Council voted unanimously this week to try to improve the way it distributes federal money to community service groups. The council gave more than $160,000 in community development grants to 33 nonprofit organizations in fiscal year 1993-94. The council agreed Monday to try to reduce the total number of grants because the city uses an average of $388 of the federal money for administration of each grant, according to Muriel Berman, redevelopment and housing manager.

Joan Abrams got a sense of the hard times that charities are likely to face this holiday season after a recent fund-raiser for her Garden Grove-based Christian Neighbors group. Twice as many people attended the event as last year, but donations lagged compared to those taken in a year ago. "People are not spending money; the funds are less," said Abrams, who also heads the Interfaith Community Action Network, a coalition of more than 100 county nonprofit agencies.

Immigrant rights advocates reacted with outrage Wednesday and threatened to legally challenge a new Costa Mesa policy that withholds city funds from groups that serve illegal aliens, a measure that one official predicted could change the way charitable organizations operate in Orange County. A spokesman for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) said his group will study the new policy to determine if it discriminates against undocumented residents.