ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Time for Compassion, Not Fear

It is easy to feel bad about the homeless--there are an estimated 10,000 without shelter, many of them children, in Orange County alone--and simply leave it at that. But a group of Orange County churches has decided to go beyond thinking about the homeless to actually providing shelter and food for the winter months to some who are homeless.

The program is modeled after a successful shelter effort in San Diego. It will provide a warm bed or cot, showers and meals for up to 24 people who will be divided into two groups and be housed at churches for rotating two-week periods. Other churches--25 of them are involved--will provide volunteers, food and other support services. Initially, at least, the focus will be on single people who are employable so that they can also be helped to find work. This supplements a county program in which the Santa Ana and Fullerton armoriesare opened to as many as 250 people a night when temperatures drop below 40 degrees or when there is a 50% chance of rain.

While the numbers involved in the church program are very small compared to the need, it must be remembered that behind the overwhelming statistics are individuals who would spend the night in a car or under a bench were it not for the beds these churches are providing. The program will also promote understanding. As one of the organizers of the San Diego program said: “One of the most valuable things this program does is break down stereotypes.”

The program represents an especially courageous attempt in the face of the NIMBY (not-in-my-back-yard) mentality that recently has pervaded some neighborhoods where services for the poor have been provided. It should evoke compassion and not fear in the communities these churches serve.