Homelessness In Our Area

In this area of the Pacific Coast, it rarely hits much over 75 degrees or below 40 degrees, though it can spike up to 80 and hit lows of 32 occasionally. I love our mild climate here. I don't miss the snow - it's nice not to HAVE TO drive in it, or shovel the driveway, or purchase the gear, etc.

It looks like lots of other folks feel the same.

This guy was catching a snooze in front of a local restaurant.

Partially because of the weather, I think, we have a HUGE homeless population here. So huge that at one point, the city took out all the park benches because people were using them for beds and setting up camps around them. The city eventually put new benches in, but they have iron armrests in the middle, so now up to two people can sit (not lay!) on them. Problem solved. Not.

Near our home is a small bridge over the slough (tidal creek) under which a man has a small, tidy camp. I wouldn't have known he was there, but his tent is yellow and it caught my eye one day. There's also a large second-growth redwood forest not too far away where several homeless folks live.

I was out throwing the ball for True at the school down the street one morning when two people emerged from the bushes along one side of the ball field and began packing belongings into backpacks. They then produced water bottles to wash their faces and brush their teeth. It was all very efficient. So efficient that I concluded those bushes must be a frequent stop. I checked it out after they left. It was very clean, no trash that I normally associate with homeless camps. They'd broken a bunch of branches to make it comfy in there, but other than that and some packed earth, there was no other sign they'd spent the night.

During my 20+ years at Social Services, I've encountered a lot of homeless people. Many doing their best to become homed. Others enjoying the homeless lifestyle. I've had several people tell me they are "houseless" not "homeless". I guess saying they choose the forest or the beach or the bushes over four walls.

I think it's fine to choose to be "houseless" if:

1. The person is self-supporting.
2. The person doesn't trash the beautiful countryside
3. The person doesn't beg. Kinda goes with #1, but panhandling or begging is epidemic in this area - don't know about yours. I used to be sympathetic and give money, or food, or supplies like soap or toothbrushes. Now I don't go out of my way to do that. Sometimes I'll buy a sandwich for someone begging in front of a fast-food place, but I don't give money any more.

Something that bothers me about homelessness almost as much as the hopelessness and the trash and the begging is the pets. It looks to me like for every three homeless people there's at least one un-neutered, un-spayed, un-vetted pit bull-cross puppy being dragged along with them by a rope.

I don't have any answers. I'm sure there's not just one.