Walk of Fame vs. Homeless on Streets
* It was interesting to read on the same page (May 7) that Huntington Beach is installing a special Surfing Walk of Fame, while the adjoining city of Westminster elected to invest $10,000 in 16 homeless people to reintroduce them to productive lives, hopefully with jobs, all within the three months that they will be sheltered.
There was no estimate given to the cost of the 4-foot-square personalized granite stones honoring the inductees to Huntington Beach’s Walk of Fame nor how many will be so honored, but I am hoping that some of that city’s largess will be allocated to its own growing population of street people.
One call to Orange County’s nonprofit organization Shelter for the Homeless could help to pave the way for a new “walk,” a Walk of Hope. The mayor’s ensuing proclamation would be an equally “nice touch” to the city’s image.
This might spark a new awareness within cities that invariably seem to have enough “budget” left for this item of self-aggrandizement or that of self-promotion. See what only $10,000 can do: 16 people, three months of food, clothing, shelter, dignity and, hopefully, ultimate self-respect.
In a tale of two cities, the city of Westminster, in the true spirit of a good neighbor, has earned a star on my Walk of Hope.
ALEX WALDER
Irvine
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