Driving Home Points About Homeless

* I enjoyed reading your article about homelessness (“O.C. Homeless Study Disputes Stereotypes,” Oct. 23). Often many people choose not to give to homeless people, they just don’t understand what it is like to be without a home, especially when 5.8% of Orange County victims have part-time jobs, and 2.5% work full time (I learned that from your article).

Most of my friends, both high school and adult, have stereotyped homeless people as being “lazy” and “not trying to get jobs and make a living.” I have never really believed this, but haven’t found any proof to support me, until I read the article about the survey on homeless people conducted by nonprofit organizations and other homeless people.

The statistics are incredible; it makes one realize just how lucky one is to live in a city, in a house, with a family. One of the most disturbing facts is that 24.2% of the people surveyed had attended some college.

What that means is that almost a quarter of the people one sees pushing shopping carts and holding out cans and signs asking for help, have, at some point in their “life,” been sitting in a college classroom.

JOEL MASON

Seal Beach