Mollie Lowery, ‘angel on skid row,’ was an inspiration

To the editor: I hope you receive countless letters about Mollie Lowery and the amazing work she did for homeless people in Los Angeles. (Mollie Lowery, to the end, was a saint to those living on the streets,” July 25)

When I first met Lowery, she was working to eradicate a different kind of homelessness by providing shelter, safety, counseling and support services for women and children fleeing domestic violence.

In the late 1970s, staff at the Ocean Park Community Center, under the leadership of Ariana Manov and Lowery, launched the second shelter for battered women in Los Angeles County. Their Sojourn Shelter for Battered Women and Their Children was so successful that it became a model shelter, providing technical assistance as others started responding to the desperate need for safe and supportive housing for victims of domestic violence.

Lowery’s can-do spirit and sensitivity were cornerstones of the project as well as great lessons she gifted to those of us who worked with her.

Karen Hilfman, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I have not cried for years, but I write this letter with tears in my eyes after reading of Lowery’s passing.

I am a news photographer and homeless advocate who has been assisting skid row residents for more than 40 years. Many years ago I was introduced to Lowery.

I instantly admired her humble but assertive demeanor when it came to the down and out. She was never into herself or self-promotion, unlike many other so-called skid row advocates, never seeking anything in return for her deeds other than getting others involved.

Because of the inspiration of people like Lowery, to this day I volunteer and regularly make my rounds on the streets of downtown L.A. If there are are true goddesses or angels on skid row, Lowery and Alice Callaghan would surely be among them because of their selfless devotion to the well-being of the less fortunate.

Henk Friezer, Eagle Rock

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