A Little Progress Is Not Enough to Serve Homeless

Failure to give proper attention to finding shelter for the homeless has always seemed even more callous and hard-hearted in Orange County than in other places because of the community’s affluence. But things may be changing for the better.

A survey several years ago indicated a disappointing lack of resolve when it came to the homeless. The public and private sector were both doing far too little to help. Sadly, the situation today remains much the same and raises the question: When so many people are so well off, how can they ignore the plight of their less fortunate homeless neighbors, many of whom have been forced into the streets by unfortunate circumstances beyond their control?

Last week there were signs in at least two communities that local consciences were beginning to stir and people were recognizing that providing at least short-term shelter was not only charitable, but possible.

The Fullerton City Council approved a permit allowing the First United Methodist Church of Fullerton to open a downtown shelter for homeless mentally ill women.

And the Laguna Beach City Council ordered the city manager to find an appropriate city-owned building to provide shelter for the homeless. Laguna is seeking the local shelter because the closest state armories, which open to the homeless when temperatures dip below 40 degrees, when there is a 50% chance of rain, or when it rains with the temperature 50 degrees or below, are in Santa Ana and Fullerton. There are none in the south coastal area.

Unfortunately, during both the Laguna and Fullerton debates, some council members raised the same old unfounded fear about attracting more homeless people from other areas, a fear that has kept public officials from doing as much as they can--and should.

And Laguna is following the same arbitrary temperature standards followed at the state armories. If they have neither warm clothing nor blankets, people can be cold and uncomfortable on virtually any windy winter night, whether it is raining or not.

Last weekend an unidentified man was found by a river overpass in Fountain Valley. He apparently died from hypothermia. That’s unconscionable. It may be difficult to find long-term solutions to the lack of affordable housing in Orange County’s heated real estate market, but with all the resources available in the community, no homeless person should ever freeze to death.