ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Help the Tenured Homeless, Too

Laguna Beach is suffering an embarrassment of riches when it comes to helping those left homeless by last month’s fire. So many people and businesses provided clothes, including the Neiman-Marcus chain’s donation of thousands of jackets, blouses and pants, that charities quickly cried, “Enough!’

The nonprofit Laguna Fire Relief Organization received enough clothes to outfit survivors “five and six times over,” as one volunteer put it. Leftovers were sold, with proceeds earmarked for financial help for fire victims, especially those whose homes were uninsured.

But a few discouraging words have been heard. Some came from the homeless man whose driver’s license identifies him as “No. 1 Unnamed Archer.” Archer, 63, is one of the city’s true characters. He thinks those left homeless by the fire are getting better treatment than he and his colleagues: “I don’t have a home, either--I just haven’t had one for longer.”

Archer, who considers himself a city greeter, waving to visitors from a street corner, was upset at not getting a new pair of shoes from Laguna Fire Relief.

He seems to have gotten a bit carried away with his complaint, since the city long has done good job of helping the needy. But he is right to be impressed by the outpouring of assistance. Restaurants provided free meals as the flames spread; hardware stores gave supplies needed for the cleanup; department stores kicked in cash or set up gift registries for victims. In fact, some people who work with the homeless say they have been concerned that their charges may get overlooked in the rush to help fire victims; the previously homeless who sought clothes were told that most items had been specifically earmarked for the fire-ravaged.

Laguna Fire Relief has rightly referred the needy to other groups that can help. Asking donors to let clothes go to others besides fire victims would also be a good idea. And a United Way official was correct to remind donors that while he was “sorry for people who lost $600,000 homes,” there are many others who need help also.