Last month, January 2022, a record 46 people died without fixed abode in Orange County. Their names are:
Robert WADE who died on December 31st in Orange
Richard GALLAGHER who died on January 1st in Costa Mesa
Pete CAIRO who died on January 1st in Santa Ana
Trudy DEANDA who died on January 2nd in Anaheim
Sunny CALVILLO who died on January 3rd in Anaheim
Dennis AGUILAR CHOXOM who died on January 3rd in Anaheim
Alejandro SANDOVAL ROMERO who died on January 3rd in Anaheim
Elver PAXTOR MALDONADO who died on January 4th in Santa Ana
Louis ADAMS JR who died on January 4th in Garden Grove
Favio VELASCO who died on January 4th in Anaheim
Paul LUPIEN who died on January 4th in Costa Mesa
Troy MCGOVERN who died on January 4th in Garden Grove
Randolph ALPORQUE who died on January 5th in Huntington Beach
Kevin FASIHINIA who died on January 6th in Huntington Beach
Mylik WRIGHT who died on January 6th in Santa Ana
Judith RITCHIE who died on January 7th in Laguna Hills
Kory HALOPOFF who died on January 8th in Santa Ana
Michael MOLAUG who died on January 10th in Anaheim
Alexandra KONOPKA who died on January 12th in Westminster
Reuben MARTINEZ who died on January 12th in Stanton
Bert MONDINO III who died on January 14th in Tustin
Noe VAZQUEZ who died on January 15th in Orange
Lloyd JONES who died on January 15th in Santa Ana
Robert REEVES, JR. who died on January 16th in Stanton
Carol CHRISTENSEN who died on January 16th in Orange
Jeffrey BACANI who died on January 17th in Fullerton
Barbara NORKAITIS who died on January 17th in Huntington Beach
Robert LIDDICOTE who died on January 18th in Costa Mesa
Lester BLAKEMAN who died on January 18th in Santa Ana
Jorge PAVIA who died on January 18th in Buena Park
Anthony NEAL, JR. who died on January 19th in Laguna Hills
Omar RAMIREZ-NOLASCO who died on January 20th in Capistrano Beach
Dustin POINTON who died on January 21st in Laguna Beach
Shane BRANAM who died on January 21st in Cypress
Bradford KIRK who died on January 22nd in Lake Forest
Hugo LOPEZ who died on January 23rd in Mission Viejo
Ruby LOPEZ who died on January 24th in Huntington Beach
Cassandra COLAW who died on January 25th in Orange
Charles PAGE who died on January 26th in Buena Park
Nicholas JUAREZ who died on January 27th in Santa Ana
Bailey WATSON who died on January 28th in Costa Mesa
Jose RAMIREZ who died on January 29th in San Juan Capistrano
Helena GIDCUMB who died on January 29th in Anaheim
Michael ROMERO who died on January 29th in Anaheim
Freddy RAMIREZ who died on January 30th in Santa Ana
Forest DUNAGAN who died on January 30th in Garden Grove
Eugene SUTTON who died on January 31st in Anaheim
Last year, 40 people died in such circumstances in Orange County in January, then also a record, broken and exceeded this year by 15%.
The lamentable increase in homeless deaths in Orange County has produced some action.
On January 26th, Orange County Sheriff Coroner Don Barnes announced the creation of a Homeless Death Review Committee set to “consist of technical experts from both the public and private sectors,” and whose mission will be “to explore the root causes of the reviewed deaths and determine what, if any, factors contributing to the deaths were preventable.” The press release announcing the creation of the panel notes that the empanelment of such a committee is a “recommended best practice of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council.” While the Committee will certainly certify that which is already well known that a large number of those who die on the streets of OC die violently or of drug overdoses, one hopes the Committee will also note that keeping large numbers of people on the streets vulnerable, under stress or bored, increases the likelihood of their being assaulted and resorting to self-medication (either to stay awake, to go to sleep, or in turn all of the above).
Where action has not taken place is help in finding the City of Orange’s Mary’s Kitchen a place to move to after it is shut down at its present location (set to occur by May 1).
I was at Mary’s Kitchen recently. What a lovely place it continues to be: About 80-100 people sitting nicely, peacefully, in a nice shaded area, at picnic tables, eating breakfast, having opportunity to get a shower, watch some TV, recharge one’s phone, SEE A DOCTOR, have a chance, in effect to regroup, rather than be forced to defend one’s tent or tarp, on some street corner somewhere, not having showered in weeks, and having been burned from head to toe by the sun.
But despite being at the end of a cul de sac in an industrial part of town with the city’s police station a block and a half away, this place is being shut down, rather than being lifted up as a model to other cities for humanely providing services to their homeless populations.
Another place where action definitely hasn’t taken place is finding the County’s RV dwellers someplace, any place to legally park overnight.
I now get several calls a week from RV dwellers who last year used to be somewhat annoyingly parked on a street in Fullerton, again in an industrial section of town – a long, kathump, kathump, kathump train passing by every five to ten minutes. The RV dwellers have since been scattered to other parts of the county and continue to accumulate mountains of parking tickets. Eventually, every one of them will lose their vehicles, and those vehicles will be sold at auction to other desperate people who won’t realize until too late that there’s no place to legally park them in the County.
One would think that at minimum, if there is no place to legally park 10-year-old RVs in the County, then it should be illegal to sell them here in the County as well. But there could be any number of places across the county that could be designated for these people to park. And yes, then setting up a tent or rolling up a mobile van with an office so that the County could offer these people basic services could be done. It would not be hard, and it would meet these people where they are. But we choose not to.
And then we wonder why another record number of people have died once more, homeless, on our streets.
Fr. Dennis Kriz, OSM, Pastor St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church, Fullerton.
Opinions expressed in community opinion pieces belong to the authors and not Voice of OC.
Voice of OC is interested in hearing different perspectives and voices. If you want to weigh in on this issue or others please email opinions@voiceofoc.org.