Several 
times now, two colleagues of mine have seen this elderly woman at a busy intersection in central Los Angeles. She's been there in her wheelchair, with her cardboard sign, for a couple of weeks now. Her middle-aged son, also homeless, stands by quietly.
Probably half a million people have glimpsed her as they drive by in their SUVs and BMWs. As yet, no social-action organization or church group have thought to take her in.
Finally, yesterday, my friends went back with a camera, feeling horrible that they couldn't take her in either.
While Tyler kept the car idling at the curb, Davyd hopped out with his camera. They gave her some money, and asked her permission to take her picture and publish it everywhere, in hopes it would spark some help.
"Yeah, about five thousand people have taken her picture already," the son said wearily.
Ninety-seven and homeless. It shouldn't happen. Not in L.A.. Not anywhere. She was born in 1912, when women couldn't vote yet, when World War I hadn't happened yet.
Long ago, wasn't there a poem about immigrants arriving in New York City that began, "Give me your tired, your poor...the wretched refuse of your teeming shore"?
Well, America doesn't need to import any "tired poor" from Europe or Asia any more. We are busy making lots of them right here at home.
Incidentally, this woman is one of the many thousands of low-income Californians, including people with HIV/AIDS, whose lifeline is ruthlessly being cut by our governor and legislature so they can balance the budget.
I hope all the well-fed politicians with their lifetime packages of income and healthcare take a long hard look at her. She's the human face of the holocaust they're creating.
Photo by David Daniels & Tyler St. Mark
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2 Comments
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Patricia,
When I took this picture I just wept. It tore through my soul. I hope we can get someone agency to help her and her son.
Where are these great churches who advocate helping the needy? The Guvanator needs to see this picture as well.
You did good getting this on Bilerico. Perhaps this will go viral to get her and her son some help.
My heart and soul hurt for her.
Davyd | June 10, 2009 11:58 AM
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Patricia, I am confused, without an address can she still get SSI, have a bank account, etc.? Many seniors have opted for direct transfers to their bank accounts, but do they lose these accounts when they no longer have a permanent address?
I despise nursing homes and perhaps she does as well, but a wheelchair bound elder should be in contact with just such a horrible institution simply for safety. Her son is also likely an elder. I do not know enough about their story or how the state agencies responsible did not provide so I am casting about in the dark here.
This is not just wrong it is criminally wrong.
I have long sensed that there is a growing backlash in America against elders who can no longer work and require care. Those under a certain age do not want to contribute to Social Security because the time they will need it seems far away. When I, at 16, had deductions from my first paychecks for Social Security I wrote it off as my responsibility to the workers and soldiers who had won WW II. Everyone knew a senior who had contributed their entire lives then and many still did as unpaid "baby watchers" for neighborhood mothers, tellers of stories to small children on porch steps about life "long ago." I'll bet this woman has great stories!
Robert Ganshorn | June 10, 2009 10:05 PM
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