It began with a phone call in 1979, a plea to Frank Schillo, who had helped create the local food bank in Thousand Oaks.

Many people relied on the food bank, the caller pointed out, because the cost of housing stretched their already meager budgets. Schillo, a financial planner, had to do something about housing, the caller told him.

From that phone call and the heavyweight help of community leaders and clergy, Many Mansions was born with the goal of providing donations to low-income families to help offset the cost of rent.

Now, as Many Mansions enters its 30th year, the original goal has expanded into an organization with a $2.7 million operating budget that houses 1,000 people in 410 units in apartment complexes that it owns and operates in Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley.

With its local success, Many Mansions officials are casting their gaze into Los Angeles County and deeper into Ventura County for opportunities to house those with limited or no means.

There is no shortage of need for housing for the poor, the disabled and the homeless. There are 800 people on a waiting list for homes in one of nine developments that Many Mansions either built from the ground up or rehabilitated.

Each complex provides services, including financial advice, case management and

after-school programs for children.

The expansion of Many Mansions' initial mission has gone "beyond my wildest imagination," Schillo said, crediting the leadership of executive director Richard Schroeder, who became involved when he donated to the group and volunteered legal services for free.

Schroeder said there is a basic reason for Many Mansions' longevity.

"It's very simple," he said. "We've just had tremendous community support. Affordable housing in its early stages was maybe not as supported or understood by the community. I think Many Mansions did a very good job on education, stressing why affordable housing is good for the neighborhood, good for the community."

The city of Agoura Hills has approached Many Mansions along with other providers to discuss the possibility of an affordable housing project for land it hopes to acquire in the planned Agoura Village development area. There have been conversations with Camarillo, and Schroeder said Many Mansions is meeting with officials in Moorpark.

There are no specific projects in place in those three cities, but Schroeder sees the opportunities as valuable as cities begin to update their state-required housing plans, which must include affordable housing.

In the coming years, Many Mansions will add two more affordable housing projects in its home base of Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley.

The Hillcrest project will include 60 units on two parcels of land. The city of Thousand Oaks advanced $2.5 million to Many Mansions to acquire the property.

In June, the Simi Valley City Council approved an agreement that includes a $250,000 loan to Many Mansions to help with the acquisition of La Rahada, an eight-unit complex on Ashland Avenue.

It will serve extremely low-income, chronically mentally disabled and homeless individuals. Part of the money will be used to relocate people currently living there.

La Rahada is next door to Many Mansions' first project in Simi Valley, Casa de Paz, a $1.6 million acquisition and renovation project that opened in 2003. It has 14 one-bedroom units for the chronically, mentally disabled. The housing includes on-site case management and service coordination.

"It was kind of a new idea for us to serve this type of population," said Rob Bruce, Simi Valley's deputy director of housing and special projects. "These are people who would be on the street if they didn't have the services ... to help these people integrate into society."

Cathy Brudnicki, president of the Ventura County Housing and Homeless Coalition, said housing is needed in the county for those teetering on homelessness, those who have found themselves on the streets and those who need a support system to help them get on their feet.

The supportive housing that Many Mansions has taken on is often the hardest niche to fill, she said. It is labor-intensive, requiring case workers and programs to steady the most vulnerable.

Terry and Robert Lewis are among the thousands Many Mansions has helped over the years.

The couple met when they were both residents in Esseff Village, a once-blighted motel that the organization renovated into a housing complex for people with disabilities and the homeless.

Terry Lewis, an outgoing woman of 57, came to California in 1999 with $350 in her pocket after 25 years of driving a cab on Cape Cod and in Boston. For 15 of those years, she lived in the back of a car, on people's couches or in shelters cobbled together with trash bags.

When her car broke down in Victorville, a man put her car on a flatbed truck to Simi Valley. Unable to find work in Simi Valley or Thousand Oaks, she headed to Ventura, where she worked in a bakery and stayed in a shelter before learning about Many Mansions, which took her in.

"Many Mansions has really been a blessing," Terry Lewis said, sitting in the organization's conference room with Robert by her side. "They helped me get my Social Security, helped me get my benefits."

Diabetes left her unable to walk. And her daughter took on the role of caregiver and matchmaker, introducing her to Robert, a fellow resident who arrived in Thousand Oaks after several years on the streets, a dalliance with drugs and time rehabilitating at a Salvation Army facility.

Today, they live in Villa Garcia, an 80-unit complex for low-income and very low-income individuals. Terry keeps a binder of service providers for those who need it, while Robert works in landscaping.

"It was a great stepping stone to use, to advance in life," Lewis said. "It's a great stepping stone to find the other stones you need in life."

While many thrive, some stumble.

"There are a lot of very hard cases, where you help people and they don't make it," Schroeder said, adding that residents might be aggressive or engage in consistently poor behavior, "where we have to evict them. And that's difficult."

Marty Garcia, a Many Mansions board member who has served several times as board president, said the organization stands out because of its ability to maintain safe communities.

"We have rules people have to follow," he said. "We do run a tight ship."

Garcia and his wife, Eileen, started off as donors to Many Mansions' original program, Adopt-A-Family, which provided rental subsidies. About 12 years ago, Garcia joined the board. Villa Garcia is named in the couple's honor.

"We knew what it was for people to struggle with housing, and we knew how hard it was for hard-working people to get decent housing," Garcia said. "I know how hard my father worked to support us. That was in the back of my mind."

Individual donors make up the backbone of Many Mansions' support. Schroeder says the organization receives about $300,000 in donations and about $300,000 in grants. Other income comes from rent payments.

As Many Mansions' 30th year gets under way, there will be celebrations and fundraisers to mark what has been accomplished.