The contrast couldn’t be more stark.
Inside Precious Life Shelter’s infant care center, you’ll find stuffed animals, teething toys, rattles and rings, newborns with their favorite things.
Outside: a perimeter fence, trespassing signs, surveillance cameras and, at night, thieves.
The women and children are safe. The donations that keep the shelter going are not.
“People who don’t care, steal,” said Theresa E. Murphy, executive director of the shelter, which provides emergency, transitional and single parent programs for pregnant women with no place to live. “They take clothing, house-ware, toys, everything.”
Murphy added that some of the items dropped off at the shelter are probably taken by those who believe they’re for locals — perhaps people on the street and down on their luck.
Most of the women at the shelter are facing financial, physical or emotional emergencies that put them on the brink of losing housing, food and other necessities. Women at the shelter are looking for a safe place to stay and nurture their babies under tough circumstances.
Murphy said about 40 percent of the shelter’s operating costs are maintained by the donations that are disappearing; shelter volunteers distribute the donations to the women and babies or sell those that can’t be used via the shelter’s thrift store. It is a critical component to caring for the typically eight to 12 women living in the shelter’s housing units.
“Anything that’s taken affects us greatly,” Murphy said. “Donations is how we operate.”
Surveillance cameras at the shelter show that over the past month a couple driving a pickup truck has managed to trespass and steal loads of donations. Cameras have also chronicled drivers of a minivan loading up.
Los Alamitos Police arrested two trespassers at Precious Life Shelter at 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 5 for possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, said Sgt. John Krok, who added that police got “a good lead.” One of those arrested had four open warrants for vehicle theft and drug possession.
Krok said police believe those stealing from the shelter grab donated items, go to a neighboring garage and then sift through the haul to see what they can sell.
“We’ve got extra patrols in that area,” he said.
This is not a new problem for the shelter, which has increased its security in recent years but, as a non-profit, is typically tight on funds.
Recently, however, “it’s gotten worse,” Murphy said.
Meantime, Murphy is trying to raise public awareness.
Donations of clothes, shoes, toys, home decor and more should be made during business hours, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. Make sure a volunteer accepts your donation, Murphy said.
“It’s very important that donations reach their destination to support the women and children they are intended to help,” Murphy said. She also thanked the community for its continued support.
The shelter is at 3622 Florista St. in Los Alamitos. For more information, call 562-430-7309.
