Special Zoning

According to the Downtown Gazette newspaper Long Beach's Homeless Winter Shelter was to open last week. The City Council had to approve special zoning changes to allow the shelter to open. I am not too clear if funding for the three month Winter Shelter comes solely from the City Budget or if Federal Funds are used to pay to lease the building, provide cots, blankets and meals. Meals being breakfast and dinner. The Shelter's usually are open for 3 months from December until March. Luckily Long Beach has mild winters, but the temperatures have been hovering around the low 40s at night and mid to low 60s during the day light hours.

My daughter mentioned 2 degrees back home and 60 and even 40 would be welcome relief back there. But when one is outdoors 24/7 it is almost impossible to warm up during those daylight hours. This is why one will see people walking around in shorts whereas homeless people are shaking in coats, scarves and hats during daytime hours.

Homeless are a bit luckier this winter than my year on the streets which was a record breaking rainy winter season. Yet they have also survived some rain storms with the usual drier outdoor sleep spots gone to new construction. It seems strange to me, that the City has this same issue year after year: Where can we open the Winter Shelter. Reminds me of my ex-husband who spent his money wildly all year on luxuries (versus paying stuff like the rent or his high toll call phone bills which I covered with my $2.01 an hour plus tips waitress job) and come December would call his mother crying the "I do not have any money to buy the kids Christmas presents blues".

I had less sympathy for him than his mother who would fork over some dollars, because I was suffering the brunt of keeping a roof over the children's head while he drank his pay away. Why is there no permanent location for a Winter Shelter in Long Beach? Come to think of it, why is there no large year round shelter for Long Beach's homeless population? I have already written about my experience of being bussed to Los Angeles for shelter and why I refused to go back. With families and Iraq war vets swelling the numbers of homeless, perhaps the City Council would do well to address the homeless shelter issue once and for all.

Homeless are citizens too.