> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Love thy neighbor, even if they were once homeless
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/love-thy-neighbor-even-if-they-were-once-homeless-editor/
- Published: 2005-09-02T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T07:39:02.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless

*By Rene Buchanan Santa Monica*

I’ve often considered responding to editorials and letters to the editor regarding the homeless situation in Santa Monica. However, after reading Sara Chesluk’s letter (SMDP, Aug. 23), I feel compelled to reply.

I was once homeless in Santa Monica. For the last two and a half years, I have lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Santa Monica. I am a woman, but I do not have children. I did, though, receive a HUD voucher which supplements the rent that I pay.

Oh, and by the way, I now work in Santa Monica. So, I suppose my question to Sara is this: Where would she have me live? And in what?

She seems to feel I am not worthy of a one-bedroom apartment in a fairly decent area simply because I was homeless.

Or is it that she is another one of those who supports homeless services only from a distance?

You see, Sara, you don’t always know who your neighbors are. Right next door to you could be someone who was once homeless, but who, because HUD helped them get an apartment, now gives back to the very community that didn’t really want them there in the first place.

There are many formerly homeless people living in Santa Monica who now volunteer and work here and elsewhere.

And why are they able to do this? Because they no longer have to worry about shelter and food.

Perhaps, Sara, you should stop feeling sorry for those who can’t afford to live in Santa Monica and just be grateful that you can — if you are, in fact, happy living here.

Maybe, too, you should take a look at the support you give homeless services. The ultimate goal of all homeless agencies is housing, but it seems these agencies are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

The public rails against them for not doing enough, even blames them for the problem in the first place.

Yet, when a definite step is taken towards solving the problem, it is in the wrong direction.

I was homeless for 15 months — and not by choice, as is the case with most of the homeless men, women and children I meet.

It saddens and angers me that so many people see these individuals as so different from themselves.

In the end, there are more similarities than differences. There are homeless and housed alcoholics, homeless and housed mentally ill, homeless and housed artists, homeless and housed bankers and salespersons... I even met a doctor who, after a nasty divorce, lost everything but the van he slept in.

So, if there is a better solution than helping someone move from the street into a bedroom, I’m sure all of the social services agencies would welcome it.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 2, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/090205.pdf?ref=smdp.com)