By Viper Meade Homeless in Santa Monica
I want to see that people understand the truth about the homeless. In the SMDP, March 12, page 6 there was a comment that was partially right. Marjorie Campbell is right about the parks, but is incorrect about the homeless shelters. There is a shelter for the mentally ill, domestic violence, but there is only one main shelter that maybe holds 150 people at a time. That is where all the money is going but there is a dire need of more shelter beds.
As Garth Brooks says in one of his songs: “Until every child has something to eat, every person has a shelter over their heads, and we walk hand in hand nothing is going to change.”
Keeping the parks clean is wonderful, but someone has to give to get a little. We would not mind having an indoor feeding location, but the city of Santa Monica does not want it. You want the homeless to be fed indoors and not in the parks, then convince the city of Santa Monica to do something with the $10 million that they received as a donation for the homeless.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 16, 2004. Read the original PDF.