I almost started hyperventilating with anger and frustration when I read the quote from Deputy Castro in the “Living Homeless in Malibu” article in the Dec. 1 issue of The Malibu Times. Castro was mentioned as saying, “I think we’ve done all we can do. This is America; they choose to live the way they are living. We can’t help people who don’t want to help themselves.”
Shame on you, Deputy Castro! Does hurricane Katrina ring a bell for you! Fire, flood or natural disaster could render people homeless. There is a level of poverty so extreme that homeless people cannot remove their homeless condition by themselves. Individual factors include adult and childhood victimization, mental illness, alcohol and/or drug abuse, low levels of education, poor or no work history, and too early childbearing.
Seventy percent of Malibu’s homeless work or attempt to get work every week. Every city needs to develop a plan that works for the city, provide supportive services and affordable housing, not just focusing on “enforcement of property laws.” It’s about giving something back to the lost and broken people of this world. Compassion, Deputy Castro, compassion, please.
Lydia Simon