By Kenneth McCrae Santa Monica
A dear friend of mine just passed away, peacefully, I hope. She was a formerly homeless woman named Cheri Hill. Most members of the homeless community will not recognize her name, for she was a quiet, studious soul, fighting to end homelessness in her own way.
I still remember the day I first met her years ago in Santa Monica’s Palisades Park — homeless, sick, alone, lost and buried among her possessions, on one of the benches just south of the senior center.
A close homeless friend, Fran, I and others were able to help her with food and positive support and slowly nurse her back toward health. Because of her physical condition, it took several weeks to locate a pair of thong sandals large enough to fit her swollen feet so she could move even a few feet from where I had found her.
Once she was somewhat better, we spent time together sitting on the Promenade talking. Her story, like that of many homeless women, was one of deceit and betrayal by relatives who, instead of helping her, put her through hell in order to steal her inheritance. After she was seriously injured in an automobile accident, they kept her locked away while telling her mother that she was dead. She finally managed to escape to Santa Monica.
I remember that at one point, she gave me an expensive leather jacket which someone had given her as a mitzvah for $35 so she could rent a storage locker for her possessions instead of dragging them with her on the street. I have always felt guilty that I had no more to offer.
I’m ashamed to say that when I “aged up” off the streets into an apartment, I lost track of her, as with many other homeless friends. Fortunately, I ended up working with her as a fellow member of the board of directors of Supporting Homeless Existence Leading To Enabled Recovery (S.H.E.L.T.E.R.) As a member of the board, Cheri was always positive and upbeat about our projects and life in general. I learned that she had finally been moved off the streets into an apartment and had received some of the money due her. Though no longer living on the streets, she continued to attend Side by Side (Santa Monica’s coalition of housed and homeless) meetings, often bringing donations of food and snacks for the other members.
She devoutly believed in God and his goodness. I pray there is a God, and that he has taken her into his heart. Through her shining spirit even amid the heights of adversity, she earned my greatest respect, and I shall always aspire to try to reach the standards she set. She was a truly good person, and I shall always miss her.
Did her years of homelessness on Santa Monica’s streets contribute to her death? No one can say for sure, but it is certain they didn’t improve her physical condition, though perhaps they did give her the will to fight for her life for as long as she did.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 22, 2004. Read the original PDF.