A homeowner complained about a bloody stool allegedly left by a homeless person in her alley (SMDP, Oct. 30-31, page 6). When I was a homeowner I never suffered from humans defecating on my property, although there were plenty of dogs (with irresponsible human caretakers) sullying my well tended garden.
Today I am homeless. I am mentally ill. I am an alcoholic. I sleep in doorways and alleys and dark corners, praying that my night’s sleep won’t be interrupted by the police or rain. I am a professional. As a chef, hundreds of my recipes were published in national magazines. For 35 years I’ve been a writer and photographer, and LETTERS, from page 6 I am struggling to rebuild my careers by finishing two books and printing some portfolios. In a few months, with the help of a homeless aid program, I hope to secure permanent housing. After three years of experimentation and frustration, my mental illness is kept in check through an effective program of medication and counseling. I will struggle the rest of my life with my alcoholism, but it too is treatable.
There is hope for each and every homeless person, even the person leaving a bloody stool in the angry letter-writer’s alley.
Had it been a dog, might she not have wondered if it could get help? There are a few among the homeless who panhandle aggressively, who stink, who look frightening, who even other homeless don’t trust, who have the toilet manners of dogs. But most of us are struggling to change. Most of us want a home, however humble. Most of us want to live with dignity. Yes, there are those who have crossed a threshold apparently beyond hope, but let us not all be tarred for their blight.
There is hope for most of us, if not for all of us; the solutions will come from kindness and understanding (not handouts). Vitriol, anger and jingoism only breed further contention.
In the 1930s Los Angeles tried to battle a tidal wave of homeless coming off the prairies, even to the point of setting up armed checkpoints on the incoming highways. The courts ruled that the roads must be opened, and over the next decade or so the city saw its greatest period of growth.
Go figure.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 2, 2004. Read the original PDF.