Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Don’t forget homeless

Friday, Dec. 6, 2002 | 4:08 a.m.

LAST WEEK, when it was raining, my wife and I talked about how miserable it was for so many homeless people without adequate shelter. The next day we learned it was not only miserable for rain-soaked homeless people, but it also brought death to at least one of them. Several sought shelter and some comfort in a drainage culvert. The rain that collected upstream brought a wall of water down the ditch into their resting area, sweeping one man away.

It has been more than three years since we last recorded the death of a homeless man caught in a drainage ditch during a rainstorm. None of us know or can remember the name of the homeless men who drowned in 1999 and last week. Somebody knew them because they were a friend, brother, father, cousin or uncle to another human being. They weren't just numbers but were fellow men and women who belonged to somebody at some time during their lives among us. I have been told that 47 homeless people have died on the streets of Clark County the first 10 months of this year.

Every homeless person has a story we should be hearing. There are many Southern Nevadans who do know the homeless and spend much of their time and energy helping them. Their work among those needing help becomes an endless task and only the dedicated and strong can continue these efforts. Some of their biggest heartbreaks must come from those among us who don't understand exactly what they are trying to do. Probably even more devastating must be the unkind remarks from people who don't want to recognize that a problem even exists and that human suffering on our streets is increasing.

We all had an opportunity to help just a little bit by approving a one-cent, that's one penny, property tax increase this year. This would have provided about $4 million a year for the Homeless Services and Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Certainly not a final answer but an opportunity for all of us to participate. It is a shame it failed at the polls, but the problems remain. The results aren't all negative because 108,552 people did vote for Question 11.

Linda Lera-Randle El, director of Straight From The Streets, has become a dynamo working in the streets. She not only gives the homeless comfort but also understands that many of them have special problems. She spends long hours helping people navigate their way through the maze of government and social programs. Being elderly, ill, confused and unable to read are some of the added challenges these people bring to her. She is sensitive to their needs and by helping them has prevented many more unnecessary deaths among the homeless. Our elected leaders should listen to her and Franciscan Friar David Buer when they request more shelters for the street people.

Julia Occhiogrosso and her Catholic Worker group have spent 17 years feeding and putting together programs to help the homeless. She and her husband, Gary Cavalier, work night and day raising two children and providing food and shelter for the homeless. The Catholic Worker people provide the only shelter program that allows a family to stay together. The mothers, fathers and children are not separated and neither is a single parent and a child.

The Catholic Workers are a gutsy group. In an interview last year, Julia spoke of their philosophy when explaining why they didn't seek tax-exempt status. She said that they are "convinced that justice and mercy should be acts of conscience, which come at a personal sacrifice, without government approval, regulation or reward." She then added, "We seek to maintain the freedom to provide compassionate, hands-on service without the entanglements of governmental bureaucracies and restrictions."

Linda, Julia, Brother David and Gary are but a few of the people struggling to help those who need it the most. Shade Tree Shelter, St. Vincent Plaza, Rescue Mission and the Salvation Army are also providing comfort and programs for the homeless. Right now they need our help so they can help others.

I'm writing this in a comfortable office and most likely you are reading it in a comfortable home. Tomorrow both of us should try to give of ourselves one more time in an effort to make life bearable for some poor person who slept outside in the streets last night.