EDITORIAL:

Last Sunday after we finished publishing City Editor Paul Anderson’s two-part series on homelessness in Costa Mesa, we received an outpouring of feedback from the community about this issue, including some pleas asking how you can help.

While the problems related to homelessness are myriad, the how-you-can-help part isn’t difficult at all. The best thing you can do is just donate money or time at our area charities that serve the homeless. They are all suffering in the tough economy as they struggle to meet the rising need and the drop-off in donations. Social service representatives say they are seeing an increase in formerly white-collar workers who used to pull down large salaries asking for help. Few are immune to the recession.

But that’s just triage. Giving money or help on the front lines is, of course, noble and necessary, but what can we do long-term to get more shelter for the homeless? Unfortunately, there’s no easy solution. Many of those on the streets grapple with mild to severe mental illness. Rescuing them will cost a great deal of money.

If you feel passionately enough about this issue, contact your state and federal elected representatives and lobby them to take action. Liberals and conservatives have varying arguments on how to address the issue, and we’ll leave that discussion to them.

But one more thing you might want to try is to just treat the homeless like you would any of your neighbors. Just because they lack shelter doesn’t mean they surrender their rights or their dignity. Ask any social worker and they’ll tell you it’s beneficial to treat the poor with respect. A self-esteem boost will go a long way toward helping them cope with their situation and may just help put them back on the path to normalcy.

Here’s a sampling of local organizations you can donate money or time to:

Share Our Selves, (949) 515-5400, ext. 31.

Serving People In Need, (714) 751-1101, ext. 21, spinoc.org/donate.htm

Someone Cares Soup Kitchen, (949) 548-8861, someonecareskitchen.org/pages/help.html.

Catholic Charities of Orange County, (714) 347-9600 or (714) 542-3020 or e-mail [email protected].

The Lighthouse church in Costa Mesa, (949) 548-7161 or e-mail [email protected].