COSTA MESA : Helping Homeless Is Long, Hard Path

Their hands weathered and faces red from the sun, the Rev. Jack Shepherd and his wife, Elizabeth, have crossed the country in an effort to keep homeless issues high in the American consciousness.

They have taken jobs baby-sitting, training dogs and driving ice cream trucks to pay their way.

In some cities, they have bunked with friends or camped outside, but their mission has always been to help win other people’s battles with alcoholism and other addictions that have pushed them to life on the streets.

“We obviously believe that we couldn’t be doing what we’re doing without God,” said Jack Shepherd, a beard and sunglasses covering most of his face and the couple’s Walking Ministries Inc. slogan lettered across his baseball cap.

“Some (agencies that help the poor) are more concerned with your eternal life, but not whether you’re hungry or not,” he said. “If they’ve ever been in my shoes and had to pray for a meal, they would know how humiliating that is. It takes away from the dignity and respect of a human being.”

Governors in five states have met with the Shepherds and pledged their support for homeless issues. And in Costa Mesa and other cities throughout the nation, the Shepherds’ message is also finding listeners.

Costa Mesa Mayor Mary Hornbuckle met with the pair Wednesday and issued a proclamation designating Nov. 3 to 9 as Costa Mesa Homeless Awareness Week.

“You can’t help everyone, but you can raise the awareness of the problem,” Hornbuckle told them. “The problem of homelessness tends to go in cycles. It gets attention, then goes away.”

Currently, the city is reviewing a proposal to convert a hotel into a single-room occupancy hotel for the working poor. SROs generally do not require a security deposit and are designed for single adults or childless couples to rent temporarily while they save money for permanent housing.

The Shepherds started their missionary work in April, 1990, after reading about the experiences of another young couple who had also walked across the country to help the poor.

With no clear agenda, the Shepherds have walked, hitchhiked and driven as far north as Alaska, extending a hand to the homeless along the way.

“I don’t know what the ripple effect (of doing this) will be,” Elizabeth Shepherd, 38, said. “There are little things that someone has said to me that have changed me. We think of ourselves as seed planters, and we don’t know what will grow from that.”

A recovering alcoholic himself, Jack Shepherd, 37, said he is well acquainted with the indignities suffered by the homeless--of going days without a shower or having to pray or sing before being allowed to eat a meal at a shelter.

The Shepherds don’t expect others to join them in their cross-country mission but say people can make a difference by contacting their government leaders, donating to charitable causes or by simply acknowledging the homeless with a smile.