Trudy And Norman Louis Valley Shelter

The most popular person in the sixth grade at Colfax Avenue School can barely fit into the chair behind her desk. She's Judie Segal, the 50-year-old classroom "grandmother" assigned there by the East Valley Multipurpose Center as part of a program that matches retirees with schoolchildren. Segal and 13 other volunteers make regular visits to Colfax in North Hollywood to tutor students, teach subjects and provide friendship and advice to students in need of individual attention.

This is the time of the year when thoughts turn to families and friends. But for thousands of invisible people across the San Fernando Valley, it can be the cruelest season. The weather turns sour with cold and rain, making their cardboard homes unlivable. And then there is the constant reminder that they are alone and without in a season celebrating togetherness and plenty.

An 11-year-old boy from Granada Hills cooked a meal Saturday for about 30 families--including 75 children--who live at a homeless shelter in North Hollywood. And what a meal it was: juicy hamburgers, homemade potato salad, fresh carrot salad, nachos with cheese, and pie. Marko Moreno, a sixth-grader in the performing arts magnet at Pacoima Middle School, had been planning the holiday feast for several months, recruiting volunteers from his family, Boy Scout troop, church and school.

For Cathy, a homeless mother of six children, last year's Christmas "wasn't Christmas." Her family had been kicked out of their home in Long Beach and for months had moved from home to home among friends and family in the San Fernando Valley. There was a tree in the house they happened to be staying in at Christmas time, and Cathy, who asked that her last name not be printed, managed to buy a few meager gifts for her children--four boys and two girls, ranging in age from 6 months to 14 years.

Plans for a multimillion-dollar apartment complex to house homeless families may take a big step forward this week if the nonprofit L. A. Family Housing Corp. succeeds in purchasing a lot for the project in North Hollywood. The group's housing director, Vera Fleischman, said the agency expects to close escrow on a property on Vineland Avenue this week. The organization plans to build a $2.5-million, 18-unit apartment complex on the site.

Dance therapy usually brings to mind dim lights and fluid movements. The image couldn't be further from the bright dining room where Laurie Liles teaches--with stacked chairs and tables pushed to the walls, 25 shrieking children jumping up and down not nearly in sync, and the song "I Got a New Attitude" blaring from a tune box.

A major change in the routine at the San Fernando Valley's only winter emergency shelter will allow the area's homeless to find relief from the cold and rain 24 hours a day. From Dec. 16 through Feb. 28, the Trudy and Norman Louis Valley Shelter will be among three to stay open all day and night, unlike previous years when hundreds of homeless men, women and children marked time on the streets until nightfall, when the facilities reopened.

Throughout the Valley this weekend, people are giving their time, their resources and their goodwill to neighbors who otherwise wouldn't have a very merry holiday. At El Proyecto del Barrio in Arleta, 70 agency staff members arrived at dawn Saturday and formed a human assembly line that packaged donated food and household items to a clientele in desperate need of both. "A lot of times these people go without a Christmas," said Mary Hernandez.

Last month, Van Nuys homeowners--motivated by the fear that more homeless people would come to their neighborhood--defeated an attempt to build a shelter in the area. The incident illustrates the classic dilemma facing city officials and residents alike. Most people want to do something about the escalating homeless problem, but don't want shelters in their neighborhoods.

The pictures in a photography exhibit that opened Monday at the Sherman Oaks Library are similar to those you'd see at any art show. The images are well-composed, capture the mood of their subjects and are technically well-executed. The only differences are that some of the photographers are as young as 5 years old and all are homeless. Using black-and-white film, the children captured the lives of their families, their friends and employees at the Trudy and Norman Louis Valley Shelter.