Housing Model

The Oceanside City Council is to be commended for its precedent-setting decision to provide emergency housing for low-income families in their community. Their determination to proceed in the face of considerable hostility and misunderstanding on the part of a very vocal opposition is both courageous and enlightened.

So staggering are the problems of providing shelter for the homeless that it is often easier to avoid taking action altogether, or to resort to inappropriate action--such as calling on the health department to drive migrant workers from one encampment to another, without thought of the incredible hardship being inflicted on innocent human beings. Instead, Oceanside and the good sisters of Mission San Luis Rey, who provided the land, have chosen to light a candle in the darkness. May their actions serve as a model for other communities in San Diego County, which so far have failed to confront the reality of the crisis in housing and the desperate need for practical and humane solutions.

RAFAEL MARTINEZ

Encinitas