Steve and Regina Weller, pastors of FourSquare Church in Venice, and both chaplains for the Los Angeles Police Department Homeless Task Force

The Wellers are a two-person team that are getting many of the chronic Venice homeless off the streets and into housing and/or rehab and thereafter into productive lives.

Tami Pardee of Pardee Properties recently committed to helping the Wellers financially in their pursuit, and as a result, the Wellers are about doubling the homeless placement.

SHAYLA
By Regina Weller

Everyone in Venice has spotted Shayla at one time or another, making her rounds to 3rd and Rose, Ocean Front Walk, the Venice Library, and the Venice Skill Center. Residents living around the skill center often called the police to complain of the woman sleeping in the alley or in their driveway.

Shayla has been homeless since 2007, the first few years spent in Las Vegas, and the remaining in Venice Beach. She readily explains to everyone she meets that her over elaborate dress and mouth covering is necessary because she is a “germophobic.”

Shayla has a friendly disposition, but has always been service resistant, refusing housing even through her bouts of cancer and mental health issues. On a number of occasions, The LAPD Homeless Task Force interacted with Shayla during their morning deployments, offering her services and words of encouragement.

Shayla and Chaplain Regina gained a trusting relationship in the course of their meetings, and last week Shayla accepted the offer to move into collaborative housing. She had the funds to move in with the monthly benefits from SSI, and so we set out to locate a room for rent in Los Angeles that would meet her needs.

When the homeowner explained the house rules to Shayla and gave her a key to the front door, Shayla paused in disbelief, staring at the key, repeatedly questioning the new object in her hand, and asking the homeowner to reassure her that this was in fact her very own key and her new home. That day Shayla entered a new life of safety and stability, away from the streets of Venice. She stated that she was looking forward to buying a pretty key chain.