By Kelly Hayes-Raitt Santa Monica
I just returned from what I believe is the single most inspiring event held annually in Santa Monica: The Westside Shelter and Hunger Coalition’s “Celebrating Success Breakfast,” which honors formerly homeless men and women who turn their lives around through the assistance and support of local social service agencies, including St. Joseph’s Center, Step Up on Second, Chrysalis, New Directions, Ocean Park Community Center, Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center, the CLARE Foundation, PATH, and the West LA Veterans Homeless Program.
Four things struck me about this extraordinary event: 1. Nearly all of the formerly homeless men and women being honored had been assisted by more than one of the social service agencies, and many had received help from several.
That these non-profit organizations, in a time of increased competition for dwindling dollars, can work so cooperatively is a true model for long-term problem-solving. The Westside Shelter and Hunger Coalition is LA County’s oldest coalition of social service agencies. We should be proud that this collaborative group exists in our community to facilitate the remarkable recovery of so many disparate souls. 2. Too many of the honorees are veterans. Forty percent of our county’s homeless men and women served their country under the most grueling of circumstances, only to be left alone to deal with their demons upon their return.
When more veterans served in Congress and in our state legislatures, programs supporting vets were more fully funded. Funding for the Veterans Administration’s mental health programs has been slashed in recent years, and the situation will get worse, especially for Californians. Our state has sent more soldiers to the Iraq War than any other state. We will have more war widows, more war orphans and more injured soldiers relying more heavily on our state and local social service programs at a time when the Bush/Schwarzenegger Administrations are balancing budget shortfalls with proposed tax cuts for the wealthy. In fact, just a few short weeks before President Bush sent another generation of young Americans to war in Iraq, he cut health benefits for existing veterans.
Programs for veterans must be fully funded. We ask our young men and women to risk their lives for our country; the least we can do is support their lives when they return home. 3. Nearly all of the honorees struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. Addiction touches nearly every American family and is one of our greatest and costliest health threats, yet our health system barely confronts the neurological and biochemical causes of this disease. 4. Many of the formerly homeless women and men now work professionally for the very organizations that helped them. I was struck by how my dollar to one of these effective social service agencies keeps circulating: As my dollar helps one person, she returns to help another generation of people struggling to regain their lives.
These honorees are now returning to school, to competitive employment, to families and to dignity. It struck me that the people whose courage and determination I will applaud at next year’s “Celebrating Success Breakfast” may be the very people I see on the street today. I will now look more closely at these people’s potential futures rather than at the ravages of their pasts.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 27, 2005. Read the original PDF.