San Diego: Lives of the Rich, Famous and Homeless

San Diego: Lives of the Rich, Famous and Homeless
By Staci Reidinger

August 25, 2017  

 Riley and Ashley excited for our walk along the San Diego Bay.

This morning I woke up before 4:30 a.m. to bring a friend to the airport and after dropping her off, decided to bring my dogs for a short walk-run along the San Diego Bay.  As we pulled up to the parking space and got out of the car, the San Diego skyline glowed in the distance and at least 100 boats of all varieties were quietly rocking in the smooth, darkened waters.

San Diego is a gorgeous city, filled with multi-billion dollar high rises, manicured lawns, 30-foot tall palm trees, art galleries, animal habitats and gourmet dining.  At this time of the morning, everything seemed in its place, as if the city had a magical charm, a harmony of moving cars and joggers and ship captains preparing for the day.  A natural flow of existence and calm. As we walked along the bay, I noticed the seagulls and pigeons sitting along the seawall, flying effortlessly overhead.  One of my dogs tried to chase a few, but had them just out of reach to do any harm.  The animals seemed to love the fresh morning air, the cool wind and mild temperatures that make Southern California one of the best climates in the world. 

We stopped to take a few photos of the cityscape in the distance, the USS Midway with its patriotic red, white and blue string lights in the forefront as the glass-covered towers glistened in the early morning dawn.  As I walked further, noticing the city benches along the seawall, I was surprised to find them occupied at this early hour.  Could these be tourists awaiting the beauty of a San Diego sunrise? Could this be a mother educating her children about life on the sea?  Could they be backpackers moving across the U.S. with San Diego as their final stop before returning home?

Well, from what I could see they weren’t any of these. They were very dirty and weathered and laying on the hard ground in the fetal position with a blanket almost covering all of their body with their sneakers sticking out beyond the cloth. They were young and old, women and men with darkly tanned skin with heavy wrinkles and dusty hair, some asleep while others taking notice of my furry companions. Some with a smile and good morning while others staring off, way beyond the bay, beyond the horizon.  Many had baskets full of items like used plastic containers, older clothing, books, photo albums, more blankets and some food. One younger man with a beard reminded me of a guy I served with in the Marine Corps and just for a few seconds, a few slow steps, I felt as if his stare at me was asking for me to save him from this life.  And save I will try.

As tears began to roll down my face, I realized that the city of San Diego is home to some of the most wealthy, educated and powerful people we have in California and in America, I realized that we have over 3 million people living in San Diego county, most of which have warm beds as well as food and financial security, and I realized that several thousand men and women like this young man on the park bench by the San Diego Bay spend their nights on park benches, street corners, in cardboard boxes or tents or in lawn chairs without the ability to go to the bathroom with a flushing toilet, to take a warm shower, to walk into the kitchen and make a sandwich, without the luxury of choosing what they eat every day or sitting back on the couch to enjoy a movie or TV show.  It’s 2017, why is this happening?

When we left the bay driving back to Poway, I remembered my last San Diego Padres game in the Gaslamp District.  I remember my husband driving past streets and streets lined up with tents, cardboard boxes, rain tarps tied up to create a shelter. I remember seeing a mother with children living in their car about to go to sleep for the night as she turned off the overhead light and I remember Thanksgiving 2015 when our family went out to these streets, met some of the people living outside and handed them care packages.  But this is not enough. I feel like a failure. I feel like our communities and our cities and our county are a failure.  How can we claim to be one of the safest, humane cities in the country and have people living on the street in mass numbers?  How can we fly in and out of the SD airport everyday and disregard those on the streets below who are searching for their next meal or worried that they may be the next to be living outside, sleep on one of those benches?

As we see in the news about the cost of living going up in San Diego and the issue of affordable housing for low income families and individuals, we have to slow down and really assess the situation carefully.  Most of us enjoy having the convenience of shopping malls, restaurants, parks and museums but where do you expect these employees getting minimum wage or just a little more to live?  Is it humane to demand high quality work and output from entry level employees yet pay them less than what is needed to have basic shelter, food and clothing?

My morning walk woke me up to the reality of this great experiment we call America. Our country rose to become great because of our forefather’s efforts to take care of each other’s needs through individual efforts and the efforts of growing our government and non-government charitable services.  We developed as a diverse mixture of people with diverse talents and skills.  We developed our greatness from our grit, our resiliency and our determination to make America a place where people can live in freedom and can prosper.

America now enjoys a massive government from city, to county, to state to federal levels, a government that has developed public schools, modern roads, water and electricity distribution systems, public parks and lakes, provides medical aid, law enforcement, prisons, fire departments, emergency disaster services, animal protection services, food and housing for many without work, with little income or unable to work, hospice services, and the list goes on and on.  Yet, we still struggle to help our fellow humans in need. Sometimes I wonder if the amount of time, passion and money dedicated to the San Diego Humane Society for animals could be duplicated for our homeless and poverty-level population, what our city would look like in five years? 

On the non-government side, groups continue to fill the gap where government ends and the need continues.  Non-profit organizations here in San Diego are doing a valiant job to help the homeless, low income and high risk people of our county.  They supplement almost every government program and strive to help keep America great. They are mostly volunteers who are committed to doing what they can to help.

If every able bodied person committed one hour of their time a week to helping one homeless person on the street, I am confident we could drastically reduce the number of homeless men, women and children across our city.

“What can I do” you might ask?  Here are a few ways:

-       Start in your own backyard.  Find out if there are homeless in your community and if there are any non-profit or government programs working to help get them into housing, providing them daily meals, and providing them rehabilitation.  Wherever the need is greatest, do what you can.  Help one person get off the street, just one.

-       Search online to find the non-profit and government programs helping the homeless or those at risk of being homeless (receiving heavy government aid). Find one that might need your time or talent and offer to help one day or more a week. Could be on the weekends or could be before or after work.  Do what you can because they need our help.

-       Read about the current affordable housing shortages here in San Diego and petition your local government officials by writing an email to them or sending a letter in the mail to them, asking them to push for certain parts of San Diego to be required to build housing that our entry-level workers can afford to live in.  Just search for your city government online and look for the point of contact list of city council members and the mayor. 

-       Go out and meet a few homeless people and listen to their story.  Show them you care and see what they need.

-       If you are unable to volunteer your time, the next best thing is to provide your encouragement and support through donations to one or more non-profits here in San Diego.  Find an organization that will provide you a newsletter that shows their progress with helping. Many provide updates on their Social Media pages on Facebook or on their websites, too.  You can also show your support to end homelessness by attending fundraising events.  Finally, you can share your talent by helping these groups from home when you do have a little time.  They may ask you to fill envelopes, make phone calls to thank other donors, to type up an article for their websites about their recent projects or to share highlights of the organization’s accomplishments during business meetings, conferences and other social gatherings.  Do what you can do instead of thinking about what you can’t do.

So, I hope you continue to enjoy this beautiful city so many of us call home and remember that you can make a difference in the lives of the many men, women and children living on the streets of San Diego county.  It only takes one kind act by thousands of us over and over to end mass homelessness.  Let’s do what we can and put a stop to it. 

And one day, I can take my dogs for a walk along the San Diego Bay and know those sitting on the bench are enjoying the sunrise and not waking up from their night’s slumber.