DATE: Tuesday, March 4, 1997                TAG: 9703040264

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   81 lines

LONG-TERM SHELTER FOR JUVENILES PROPOSED IN BEACH'S CREEDS AREA THE PLAN NEEDS SUPPORT FROM THOSE WHO LIVE NEAR THE SIX-BEDROOM HOME.

The executive director of the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center is proposing a new long-term care shelter in the rural Creeds area that would house a small group of juvenile boys who are at risk of becoming homeless.

The plan has far to go before it's approved - not the least of which is gaining the support of local residents who would be affected by the center's planned purchase of a six-bedroom home on North Muddy Creek Road.

Tonight, the center's director, Richard H. Powell, hopes to brief community members on the proposal during a meeting at Creeds Elementary School.

``We want the community's support on this,'' said Powell, whose organization recently lost a protracted struggle over which homeless advocacy group would spend an $800,000 federal grant to aid the homeless in Virginia Beach.

Instead of building a dormitory to house the homeless, as Powell had hoped, the city agreed to spend most of the $800,000 on a new day center run by the Winter Shelter Task Force and the Volunteers of America. An existing network of churches that house the homeless during the cold months would continue to be used by the task force.

Powell's organization received $50,000 from the grant to help finance construction of an educational and job training center next to the shelter. Construction is just beginning on the center, which also will house a medical clinic staffed primarily by Old Dominion University nursing students.

Meanwhile, the center, which has fought a decade-long battle for money, has learned that its thrift store must move by March 31 because the company that owns the store's building wants to replace it with an auto parts store. The building is part of a strip shopping center at Birdneck Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard.

William D. Kimball, who helps run the thrift store, said he was disappointed the store has to move because it plays such a vital role for the many homeless and poor people whose crushingly tight budgets can barely afford the selection of used clothing and furniture for sale there.

Even with its budget pricing, the store manages to generate about $30,000 a year for the shelter, Kimball said, while also donating about $2,000 a month to those in desperate need of essentials.

``Once again, the homeless lose,'' Kimball said. ``The loss of this store, which is in such close proximity to the shelter, will be hard for us. Of course, it depends on where we end up. We're looking right now at a number of properties that are still close.''

The new shelter in Creeds that Powell is advocating would provide care of up to two years or more for boys ages 13 to 17 who for any number of reasons have little or no opportunity to live in a structured and nurturing home environment.

``We have found there is a real need for a shelter of this type and we'd like to locate it far from the city where the temptations of city life are not as great,'' Powell said.

The plan calls for housing up to 10 children in a facility that Powell said would comply with all state regulations affecting such shelters. He said residents would be required to attend local schools when appropriate or work with an on-site instructor who will oversee a program that encourages the boys to earn their General Educational Development diploma.

All boys would be referred to the facility through the Virginia Beach Department of Social Services, support personnel from the Virginia Beach Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, family and friends, Powell said.

The house is located at 1704 N. Muddy Creek Road and is owned by James Dockiewicz, a member of Holy Spirit Catholic Church and who has worked over the years to help the homeless, Powell said.

The family has had the house, which is on a 5.5-acre parcel of land, up for sale. They're asking $250,000, Powell said.

``There are lots of times that kids run away and come to Virginia Beach and they don't have a home to go back to,'' Powell said. ``There are certain times when parents have brought 15-year-old kids to the beach and have left them. That's where the phrase throwaway kids comes from. The thought of it just brings tears to my eyes.'' ILLUSTRATION: WHAT'S NEW?

The Judeo-Christian Outreach Center has several new plans to serve

Virginia Beach's homeless population:

Establish a group home for children in the Creeds area.

Relocate its thrift store from a shopping center at Birdneck Road

and Virginia Beach Boulevard.

Build an education, job-training and medical clinic facility next

to its shelter.

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