SERIES:

HOMELESS

HOTSPOTS

At left, Wanda poses in her "Alien Madonna" costume (a costume-party favorite), along with Alien Baby. Costume and photo-montage created by Wanda Sue Parrott.
Column 152 - Part 1 - OASIS ON THE SAND DUNES IN THE CITY OF SEASIDE  (9/8/2017)
HONING in on homelessness is easier if you know how to start. If you’ve ever wondered where to turn for help if you became homeless, think: Homeless Hotspots. Next, pinpoint why you need specific help by asking yourself: Am I in need of proverbial “birds of a feather who flock together” for company? Am I a free-spirited traveler, on a sojourn through Monterey, in need of a tour guide to help me find a place to sleep free? Am I a shaken, sheltered bystander aware that I could be displaced, as were the thousands of unprepared victims in the floods in Houston last week, so I need to know where to turn if disaster strikes me?  (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 153 - Part 2 - WHATEVER HAPPENED TO OLD-FASHIONED FOOD STAMPS?  (9/15/2017)
CORRECTING this error from last week’s closing paragraph is on my mind: “If you’ve never visited the MCDSS, is now the time?” Remember it? “It’s a one-story building that floats like a square island in a parking lot at 1281 Broadway Ave., Seaside.” Did you spot the mistake? Probably not, if you’ve never been there. If you’ve been there, you know it’s a two-story building, not just a ground floor. So, with my mistake corrected, the next question is: “Why was the Monterey County Department of Social Services compared metaphorically to an oasis on the sand dunes of the City of Seaside?”  (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 154 - Part 3 - HUMAN NIGHT SOIL, SLUDGE OR SEWAGE, IT’S TOXIC WASTE BY ANY NAME  (9/22/2017)
HANGING out around dumping grounds for offal can be awful. If truth be told, deadly effects of exposure to waste don’t appear immediately. So, if you’re homeless and must “do your duty” (as my Ozark-born father called the act of elimination), try to do it right. Use proper toilet facilities. If such facilities aren’t available, at least imitate nature’s wonderful felines and cover up your evidence of excrement. And wash your hands! If you cannot wash, carry sanitized wipes in your backpack.  (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 155 - Part 4 - WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN TO THE LIVING DOGS OF DEAD DOGS BEACH?   (9/29/2017)
FOLLOWING the devastation of Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria on Wed., Sept. 20, my dog walker friend, Gretchen, asked: “If it’s true that 11,000 people and 580 pets are already in shelters on the U.S. Territory, what happened to all the other homeless dogs?” “What homeless dogs?” I asked. “The 100,000 homeless dogs in Puerto Rico.” “That’s about the size of the combined human population of all the cities on the Monterey Peninsula,” I said. “What else do you know?” “Shortly before hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria hit, I read a story about homeless dogs being airlifted from Puerto Rico to the states for care and ultimate adoption,” Gretchen said. “They were rescued from a place called Dead Dog something.”  (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 156 - Part 5 - A FORMER PIMPLE ON THE AMERICAN FACE IS NOW MANIFESTING AS ACUTE ACNE  (10/6/2017)
LOCATING homeless women isn’t easy. If you want to hang out with them once you find them, “hold your horses,” as Dad would say. In other words, go slow and easy because, if you don‘t, you’re likely to be given the cold shoulder. Why? Because houseless women, as they prefer to be called, differ from their male counterparts in one obvious way: Homeless men are visible. Women are almost invisible. Are men more fraternal than women? Decide for yourself. (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 157 - Part 6 - IS “BLUE BIRD” HEALTHCARE A HINT OF HOMELESS TOWN URBAN RENEWAL?  (10/13/2017)
IDENTIFYING the Fremont/Canyon Del Rey intersection as prime hotspot where local under-housed people gather kicked off this series. If you’re curious about why, consider these facts: To the casual passerby, it’s the tourism industry’s landmark border where Seaside, Monterey and Del Rey Oaks meet. But to those who live in and around the intersection, it’s the unofficial city center of Monterey Peninsula’s version of Homeless Town. Why? Across from Safeway. Laguna Grande Park is Homeless Town’s residential district.  (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 158 - Part 7 - WILL HOMELESS TOWN LOSE BURGER KING MINISTRY FOR HOUSELESS WOMEN?  (10/20/2017)
ENDING this series with revelation of a homeless hangout most locals never knew existed points this “Homeless Hotspots” series toward its denouement, as new series “In Their Own Words” shapes up for November. If you don’t know Lois Varner, meet her now! She founded her one-woman Burger King Ministry. It’s on hiatus in October, pending possible closure while two vital questions remain unanswered: First, will the new managers of Burger King at 1090 Fremont Blvd., Seaside agree to continue the weekly project benefitting homeless women on Monday mornings between 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.? Second, will the grant money for which Lois has applied under sponsorship of her church be approved by the grantor, the Fund for Homeless Women, a field fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County? If yes, Burger King Ministry should resume before Thanksgiving.  (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 159 - Part 8 - GLIMPSING THE SACRED SIDE OF LIFE ON LAPIS ROAD  (10/27/2017)
DRESSING as an alien of the ordinary extraterrestrial kind has been my Halloween ritual for years. If it weren’t for an after-lunch outing last Sunday, I might have missed the E.T. epiphany that inspired this final “Homeless Hotspots” illustration. The stretch of county highway north of Marina is near the dump, where the slight attar of stench permeates the air and countless extraordinary terrestrials live like aliens. Not like aliens from space. Nor like undocumented alien immigrants. They live like aliens in their own human homeland. These aliens are social outcasts known as Homeless.  (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)

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