Remembering the Homeless

During the recent cold snap, when temperatures in Orange County dipped into the 30s some nights, most people just turned up the home furnace or threw on another blanket or sweater. Most, we suspect, did so without giving a thought to those who don’t have a sweater, a blanket or a home to heat.

Most of the county’s homeless, except for a few thousand lucky enough to find beds at shelters or motels, rode out the cold nights in cars, parks or wherever they could keep out the chill.

It’s the same old problem: too many homeless people and not enough shelters, beds, money and commitment. According to county estimates, there are about 18,000 homeless but fewer than 2,500 shelter beds.

In years past, the county’s two armories--in Santa Ana and Fullerton--would open to about 250 homeless when the temperature dipped below 40 degrees. Under a new policy, the armories open later, on Dec. 1, but stay open all winter, for 120 days, through March. Longer is better, but it doesn’t cover nights like those in this month’s early cold snap.

Now, when beds in the county’s 52 shelters are full, motel vouchers are issued by some nonprofit agencies. Budgeting is always a problem, but more beds could be provided if the armories were opened a few weeks earlier than Dec. 1 on nights when it rains or temperatures drop below 40 degrees.

Conditions have improved since the county appointed Karen Roper as a full-time homeless coordinator. Roper has been able to pull together efforts and bring in millions of federal and state dollars to help care for the homeless.

The problem, however, is exacerbated by skyrocketing housing costs. The county wisely recognizes that just adding more permanent shelter beds doesn’t get to one of the root causes of homelessness: the lack of adequate affordable housing. About 60% of the county’s homeless are families with children. The high housing costs throw them, and other single, lower-income working people, into the streets. The closed El Toro and Tustin military bases offer a rare opportunity for more affordable housing that must not be missed. Also needed is a greater supply of commitment in the public and private sectors, not only to help today’s homeless but to keep other working, poor residents from the same plight.