Swallow Pride and Accept Available Aid

My heart goes out to the poor ex-working woman whose story, “The Invisible Woman,” was featured on the front page of the View section (Feb. 10). There are many who can relate to her situation, knowing that we are also dancing on the same tightrope over the abyss that she describes.

I have not been forced to live out of my car as she has in this land of glitzy opportunity nor seek my dinner out of a garbage dump as some others have, but I do realize prayerfully and with thanksgiving that but for the grace of God there go I.

But at the same time, just because I also have found myself almost in the same plight, I would like to take “Diane,” as she calls herself, to task because there are resources out there and there is help for people such as she, had she just made the effort--perhaps swallowing her pride a little bit--and acknowledged that she needs help. That may be the hardest pill for many of us to swallow in such circumstances: that we do need help and that the resources reserved for the poorest of the poor and the most helpless in society are available to us too, even though we may still think of ourselves as echelons above them.

There are perfectly acceptable homes for homeless women in Orange County, which offer a temporary port in the storm, and there are also some private homes that offer rooms for rent at a much more reasonable rent than even the sleaziest of motels. There is also an active Shared Housing Program in some cities in Orange County that can be of great assistance in finding prospective house-sharers or roommates. Some of these situations even offer a modest salary for sharing the house with, and housekeeping for, an elderly person.

There are also many positions that include room and board through senior citizen agencies with the elderly and which also provide an income. This may not be what Diane or some others like her would prefer as a job or an income, but it is certainly better than the dangerous and uncertain life she describes.

And once she gets on her feet, she could move on to what seems more appropriate for her. I, too, am a former editor and worked for a newspaper in the Midwest for eight years as a writer and editor. When I moved to Orange County, however, seeking the time and freedom to do some personal writing, I found positions in the homes of elderly people where I could write, and I am still in that line of work.

I empathize with her to a very great degree, deplore her degrading situation and respect her experience and talents very much. We have much in common, I think.

BETTY A. ZIMMERMAN, Fullerton

(Editor’s note: The Times received a number of letters and phone calls from readers offering to help “Diane” with either lodging or employment. The offers were forwarded to her in Tennessee for her to do with as she wishes.)