SERIES:
PENINSULA
PULCHRITUDE
(At left, Wanda poses in a cozy scarf while celebrating her 84th birthday at Victorian Corner in Pacific Grove, where she was dressed for Seaside City Council on February 13 (2019) in Fair Trade knitwear that enables poor Peruvian knitters to earn a decent living. Similar cooperative work programs are now being considered for talented homeless women of Monterey. Photo by Ted Parrott.)
Part 1 - Kicking Off The New Search For Monterey's Homeless Women (1/4-11/2019)
COUNTING homeless men, women and children of Monterey and San Benito counties is slated for the last week
in January as the 2019 Point in Time Homeless Census & Survey gets under way, according to the Coalition of
Homeless Service Providers.
If you’re interested, sign up early to assure your place among the 250 volunteer census takers now being
sought.
Read my sales pitch first! (CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 2 - An Open Letter To Sunny Fawcett (1/11-17/2019)
SEARCHING for Sunny Fawcett last weekend ended with an F for Failure!
If rain hadn’t been howling like a whipped child, my creep through streets around the Naval Postgraduate
School might have had a happier ending.
Goal was to find a gray-doored van with piles of stuff announcing “Homeless Onboard.”
If I couldn’t find Sunny, would the woman I call Elisa be right? Could Sunny lose the use of her leg. Or
her life?
Elisa’s message indicated Sunny was struck in a crosswalk, was bent over on a walker, and letting her
badly injured leg heal naturally while living in her van. (CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 3 - Survival Tips For Homeless Banana Gummers (1/18-24/2019)
SMILING toothless baby girls are adorable; mature women with gaping mouths instead of pearly whites are
simply (fill in the blank).
If you know a better word than “repulsive, shocking or ugly” feel free to use it.
As a potential banana gummer, I confess that I hurt when I feel unattractive; thus, I don’t smile. (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 4 - Was Suicide-Bent Senior Saved By Her Doting Dog? (1/25-31/2019)
LOSING 69-year-old homeless writer/editor CeliaSue Hecht seemed inevitable. If her aging dog Cici hadn’t
intervened last Friday, CeliaSue might be gone today.
What happened besides possibly getting evicted “from everywhere for being old and poor,” as she once
said? Cici intervened simply by being there when CeliaSue sent the suicide-flavored email, meaning I could
almost taste what she was trying to say: (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 5 - Seaside's Boondoggle Busters Tackle Homelessness On The Bay (2/1-7/2019)
ATTENDING a Seaside City Council meeting is, to me, like participating in a combination old-time tent
revival and sports rally.
If the rapidly flagging state of our national political scene is causing a deflatus of your Great American
Spirit, a Seaside City Council meeting will give you a boost of democratic derring-do / do-gooding that’s vocal,
visible, and viable.
Visit a meeting in person or watch it on Channel 25. Why? (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 6 - A Lesson In Risk-Taking From God In The Gutter (2/8-14/2019)
FOLLOWING advent of this series, several readers contacted me about helping homeless women in need. If
I’m correct, this woman’s response indicates readers should be warned about risks:
“You put my mother in touch with (name withheld) . . . It was supposed to be overnight. She stayed
three weeks. . . My mother paid for her car and her dog. . . It doesn’t end up well for people when they are
scammed!”
Whatever you give and/or whomever you befriend, based on what you read here, is at your own risk.
How much risk is involved? My journey might help you reach your own conclusion. (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 7 - Lesson About Homelessness From An Unknown Neanderthal (2/15-21/2019)
WAITING for the results of the 2019 Point in Time Homeless Census & Survey, coupled with conclusions to
come from the “Homeless by the Bay” town hall in Seaside on Wednesday, February 13, put me in muse mode.
“Is homelessness new?” I wondered. “Or is it as old as humanity?”
I recalled a conversation with a Greyhound Bus driver on my Thanksgiving 2000 return trip from Pacific
Grove, California to Springfield, Missouri. We were heading into New Mexico under a velvet-black sky
sprinkled with sugar- crystal stars.
“Have you ever seen anything other-worldly?” I asked.
“Lady, I’ve seen things on the desert that no one would believe,” the driver said.
“Care to elaborate?” (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 8 - Move Over, Oscar! "Homeless By The Bay" Wins Best Performance Award (2/22-28/2019)
COMPARING last week’s “Homeless by the Bay” town hall in Seaside’s Oldemeyer Center to Sunday’s
upcoming glitz-and-glam Oscars seems like a stretch, but is it?
If you missed it, here’s a nutshell recap.
After a panel introduced the topic at the 6 p.m. event hosted by Seaside City Councilmen Jon Wizard
and Dave Pacheco, the public hearing began as participants responded for a 3-minute limit per person. (CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 9 - A Homeless Woman Should Be Seen As Well As Heard!! (2/22-28/2019)
PLANNING what to wear to city
council meetings reminds me of dressing for church when I was a well-mannered teen
observing protocol: a proper child is to
be seen, never heard.
“If I
were preparing for a sacred rite today,” I mused, “what would I wear?”
Ha! My
muse said. “Forget those conservative good old days! You’re 84. You’ve earned every
crow’s foot on your crinkled countenance!” (CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 10 - Is Welcome Finally Coming For Unsheltered Women And Their Dogs? (3/7-13/2019)
EVALUATING homeless women and their companion dogs could have taken hours at the February 27
meeting of Friends of Homeless Women, outreach arm of the Fund for Homeless Women.
If time and space permitted, the topic could also fill this edition of Cedar Street Times.
Why?
Because unsheltered women with pets compel people to ask:
Q. “Why are homeless women willing to risk freezing to death
if indoor shelter is available?”
A. Because dogs aren’t allowed in most of the shelter programs
for homeless women. That’s also true for homeless men with dogs, but last week’s focus was on women only in the packed
church full of people who joined the Q&A following the panel’s presentation of “Women without Shelter and
their Dogs—Serving Women with Companion Animals.” (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 11 - More Help From "HEAP" (Toilets On Tires And Tiny High Rises)?
COMPETING for their slice
of the $10 million in HEAP funding is keeping the Seaside Boondoggle Busters busier
than Olympians in exercise mode before the Games begin.
If
agreement is reached on various projects that could relieve homeless crises in
Seaside, the “Team” (including the city manager, city attorney, homeless committee,
mayor, city council and staff) will apply for funding for more than just the
shelter for 35-50 homeless women and children that’s already on their drawing
board. (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 12 - From Auctions To Zumba, Homeless Women's Fundraisers Arrive With Spring
SHAKING one’s bootie to
help women in need isn’t exactly like attending a sorority party or spring
cotillion back in my coming-of-age days during the Eisenhower administration.
If we white
linen-gloved girls in violet and pink nosegays had foreseen ourselves six+
decades later, would we have even survived the shock?
That
probably depends on our parents’ viewpoints.
Since
Dad came from a teetotaling Southern Baptist family from the Ozarks, he might
not understand how I, an occasional wine drinking Unitarian Universalist, can
support the Monterey Peninsula’s 501(c)(3) Community Human Services, whose
website describes its Mission Statement as: (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 13 - Is There A Future For Homeless "Pin The Tail On The Donkey Girls" Of Monterey?
GUESSING games are fun,
easy and can be rewarding.
If you
were born before the digital age, your game-playing probably included such
outmoded party activities as Pin-the-Tail-on-the Donkey, Drop-the-Clothespins-into-the-Bottle,
and Guess-the-Number of Beans-in-the-Jar games.
The
explosive communications revolution markedly affects the 600-member community
of homeless women the Monterey Peninsula whom I call in this column the “Pin
the Tail on the Donkey Girls.” (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 14 - Gathering For Women: Like A Glacier Cutting Colorful Canyons Through Monterey's Sand Dunes
QUESTIONING life is as
American as the fabled apple pie we’re supposed to love as native food for
thought.
If
you’d like to exercise your 1st Amendment right of Freedom of
Speech, but don’t know where to start, try answering this Salinas reader’s question:
“How is it that illegal immigrants receive
healthcare and welfare, plus child care and free education, while ladies of our
country who’re living on the streets are politically ignored?” (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 15 - If A Homeless Dog Dies, Will Its Human Join It By Crossing The "Rainbow Bridge"?
EXPLORING death’s spiritual
possibilities annually began April 7, 2015, when a neighbor shot himself as I
was finishing my weekly “Homeless in Paradise” column just twenty feet from the
wall separating the halves of our Seaside duplex.
BANG!
If I hadn’t assumed Matthew slammed a door, would he still be alive? (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 16 - Life At Death; Looking At Earth Through The Eye Of An Eagle (April 19-25, 2019)
“GOING HOME” is a metaphor Christians use to explain the unknown answer to the question:
When a human dies, where is Self? Heading to Heaven, Hell, Purgatory or free in space?
If a human’s pet dies, “Crossing the Rainbow Bridge” implies continued existence of Fluffy, Fido or
whatever we call our precious non-human family member.
Does being homeless complicate dying? (CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 17 - What Happens If Life's Shades Are Drawn On Windows Of The Soul? (April 26 - May 2, 2019)
CARING Cooperatives are the lifesavers of human society.
If you’re an active participant in a social network like Next Door or Facebook, you’re already part of a
“caring co-op” in which various ideas are shared, some fairly rash.
For example, this controversial approach to death, resurrection and even rebirth of love was offered in
answer to last week’s column that asked: (CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 18 - Did Monterey Police Answer A Homeless Dog's Prayer? (May 3-9, 2019)
TALKING to dogs isn’t unusual; most pet lovers do it.
If, however, a journalist tries to interview a creature, it’s a different story.
For example, Part 15 of this “Peninsula Pulchritude” series raised the question:
“If a homeless dog dies, will its human join it by crossing the Rainbow Bridge?”
The Clip Art photo of a bulldog resembled the actual animal I had in mind above this caption: (CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 19 - The Dog Can Get A Good Home; Apparently, I Cannot... (May 10-16, 2019)
CHANGING our minds is what we women are reputed to do, right?
If what I’m doing now is equal to breaking a promise, so be it.
The senior unsheltered woman who started this email exchange didn’t give permission to quote her, so
I’ve decided to call her “Name Withheld” and publish this discourse as a public service.
Why? Because it’s widely stated that humans love pets more than one other, and I hope this column
helps expose the error of this belief.
Here’s what happened: (CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 20 - Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore Went Thou? (May 17-23, 2019)
REHOUSING a pet is much easier now than in winter 1972, when I had to relocate my young son’s puppy
named Romeo in Southern California.
If I’d had someone like Doctor Dani of Pebble Beach--or simply the internet with Wikipedia as
reference resource--caring guidance might have prevented me from desperately dumping the dog and then
keeping the dastardly deed secret for 47 years—until now. (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 21 - Knocking Homelessness Out Of The Ballpark One Hit At A Time!!
SLAMMING a homer out of the ball field is every baseball player’s dream. If local governments were ball
teams, the metaphorical peninsula-wide “Homeless League’s” Monterey team won this week’s game! (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 22 - Will NIMBY vs. YIMBY Be Won By Lawsuit, Legislation, Or Love?
GAMBLING on games is the great American pastime, and there’s no dearth of activity going on locally where
the Monterey Homeless League’s teams are lining up for some noteworthy playoffs, starting in Seaside.
If you wagered, for instance, on the outcome of the pending case of Olympia Shelter for homeless
women and children on county grounds within the city of Seaside, in which of three ways did you bet? (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 23 - If Magdalene Pulled Off A Miracle, Would You Dare To Do So, Too?
USING the alias “Magdalene” back in 1997, a young Nashville street minister took a giant leap of faith by
putting Biblical “Good News” to the test by inviting five street women to share a 750-square feet house
someone had donated to her.
If former prostitutes, alcoholics, addicts and sexually abused women—and Magdalene herself—survived
without authority figures present, could the doubtful Christian message “With Love All Things are Possible” be
resurrected amidst hunger, hopelessness and homelessness? (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 24 - Do Monterey's Dentally Diseased Homeless Women Need Root Extractions?
“NEGLECTING your teeth can kill you,” the Hollywood dentist warned in 1960 when I was torn over
becoming a performer, teacher or writer. “If your abscessed tooth goes untreated, its poison could enter your
bloodstream and give you a heart attack. Would that kind of means justify your early end?”
“I’d die in my twenties?”
“Yes, if you leave dead tooth roots in your gums.”
Dentistry cost a fortune! Typing envelopes at home barely covered my $65 per month apartment rent.
“How much would it cost?”
“For extracting it only? Or also replacing it with a removable gold snap-in mouth jewel.”
“What’s a mouth jewel?” (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 25 - "Trafficker" Means 21st-Century Update Of The 20th-Century "Pimp"
PIMPING may be passé, but Trafficking is definitely in!
If you wonder what's the difference, and how it might affect people in Paradise, read on to learn things
that shocked me: mainly, the sex traders--like proverbial long-shot race horses--are up and running in Monterey
County--and if you assume I'm talking Adult Porn, think again! (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 26 - Like Onions Being Peeled Layer By Layer, Sex Trade Is Exposed
CONTINUING last week’s column that starts “Pimping may be passé, but Trafficking is definitely in!”, let’s
explore readers’ comments:
Q. If it’s true that sex slaves work on the Monterey Peninsula, why isn’t it public knowledge?
A. Exposure is beginning. Media coverage of human trafficking is, like onions, being peeled open layer
by layer.
Q. What led to this line of query? (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 27 - Might Trollops Tread Where Tourists Stroll Today?
LOSING Catherine Thoeni as executive director of the Coalition of Homeless Service Providers was such a
shock that I woke from a nightmare on Tuesday and wrote a eulogy!
If you haven’t heard the month-old news about Thoeni’s sudden resignation on June 9, it’s in the Monterey
County Weekly “Squidfry” column headlined: Squid wishes Monterey County’s homeless organizations were
built stronger than a house of cards. (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 28 - Should Homeless Campers Sleep At City Hall?
CHECKING out Seaside’s Homeless Committee finally happened Thursday, June 27, and it hit me like - KaPow, meaning “Kayla Power.” If you recall, Seaside’s controversial twenty-something councilmember Kayla Jones proposed starting a Seaside homeless commission months before she resigned under pressure last December 1. Since a committee can be as temporary as Jones proved to be (ad hoc, aka “as needed”), city council resisted the commission idea and, instead, okayed an experimental committee to see: (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 29 - Could This Cowgirl's Soul Have Been Sold For $25?
MODELING almost led me into the sex-trade, as revealed by this modestly revealing motorcycle magazine cover
from six decades ago.
If I hadn’t quit—actually, fled--Hollywood, might I now be conducting survival workshops instead of
writing columns about both homeless and sheltered sex-victims?
How close did I come to proverbially “selling my soul” for $25?
(CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 30 - What To Do With Trash Left By Homeless People?
PONDERING the growing pile of black trash bags in the 1900 block of Fremont Blvd. led Seaside-Sand City
neighbors on Next Door to recently engage in such hypothetical dialogue as:
“If a new homeless encampment is springing up, where’d the people go?”
“Maybe it’s a midtown dump. . .”
“Someone could stumble over it at night. Kids’ll be going back to school next month. It’s not safe. . .” (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 31 - Changing The World Two Words At A Time
TURNING from cyberlife to old-fashioned human communication, I spent a leisurely senior-salad-Sunday with
two sheltered women and our homeless friend at Crazy Horse Restaurant in Monterey, later switched on TV
halfway through “60 Minutes,” then read a book until bedtime.
If I’d watched the news, July 28 would have been a sleepless nightmare.
Instead, I woke refreshed to find CeliaSue Hecht’s email about the shooting on Sunday that took the lives
of four people and injured 12 at 5:41 p.m. in Gilroy. CeliaSue’s subject/headline said: (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 32 - Has Monterey County's Cash Cow Been Milked Dry?
TRAVELING by John Steinbeck with his French poodle Charley across America in 1960 inspired me to flee
Hollywood’s fleshpot and work my own way north as an aspiring writer in 1962.
If Steinbeck’s book “Travels with Charley--In Search of America” hadn’t been published, I’d still have left tinsel
town, but using the author from Salinas as role model made remaking my life exciting as I retraced his literary
footsteps and explored America. (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 33 - Homeless Voices To Sing For Their Supper At "Pasta With The Pastors"
SINGING before supper isn’t unusual in cities where musically gifted servers entertain patrons in upscale Italian restaurants with arias from Pagliacci, Rigoletto or Carmen. If you’ve sipped fine wine with fettucine alfredo or eggplant parmigiana, you know how satisfying a sample of Don Giovanni can be. Well, there’s good news. (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Part 34 - What If The Lord Blinked His Eye And Everyone Was Suddenly Homeless?
POSTINGS on Next Door hook me, especially ones about lost pets, scammers, voyeurs, and poseurs; freebies
like plums you must pick, used packing boxes, flowerpots, and leftover paint; homeless people; and friendly
advice.
If controversial, a social media town-hall evolves, as happened with this excellent post about homeless
trash pickers by a newcomer to Nextdoor. (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
