Plight of the Homeless

I am writing in regard to a letter (Jan. 22) by Carl H. Lawrence of Westminster.

In his letter Lawrence states that he is sick and tired of reading about the homeless. He states there are plenty of jobs available for those who want to work.

This may be very true. But how is a person who has been down on his luck and has no place to stay go about securing and holding one of these jobs?

First off, you must be clean both in body and attire to look for a job. After you find a job you have to have a place to stay--a way to keep yourself and your clothes clean, and most important of all a way or means to feed yourself.

Very few employers will advance a person money to exist on until the first paycheck.

As for the room or apartment, who has the first and last month’s rent plus a cleaning deposit. A room in a Skid Row flophouse must run $10 or more a night; apartments, $300 up, mostly up. So one has to have several hundreds of dollars just to get a job.

I would suggest that unless a person has been through the same situation he should withhold his comments.

GEORGE E. WEBB

San Diego