Friends have pointed out how ironic it is that my bride and I, who have worked to find housing for Malibu’s homeless population, now find ourselves without a home.
There is a gargantuan difference between not having a home and being homeless. We are fortunate to have insurance and money in the bank. We will rent a home while rebuilding our house or we will buy a new house. We have a roof over our heads, thanks to wonderful friends, and three square meals a day. We are warm, dry, and comfortable.
None of this is true for most of our homeless people. At last count, there were 155 homeless people in Malibu living in their cars, near the beach, on sidewalks and in the hills.
It has been reported that the city’s outreach workers have helped many of our homeless people, but there is no way to account for all of them.
Let us pray that they all made it out of harm’s way before the fire engulfed them. We may never know for certain whether they all found safety.