Another 31 people died “without fixed abode” in OC in February. Their names are:
Karen KESELOFF who died on February 1st in Stanton
Hiwet NERAYO who died on February 4th in Brea
Jose NAVARRO who died on February 5th in Garden Grove
Wayne DIZON who died on February 6th in Orange
Samuel PARSLEY who died on February 6th in Fountain Valley
Max WELLS who died on February 6th in Fullerton
Steven KOELSCHE who died on February 7th in Westminster
Lawrence ADDESSO who died on February 8th in Newport Beach
Roger YAMASHIRO who died on February 9th in Santa Ana
Lam NGUYEN who died on February 9th in Anaheim
Shelly MCMASTERS who died on February 10th in Huntington Beach
Sara ESPARZA who died on February 10th in Santa Ana
Daniel NAFFZIGER who died on February 11th in Aliso Viejo
Jose SALGADO DELGADO who died on February 13th in Fountain Valley
Brandon ASBRA who died on February 14th in Anaheim
David FOREMAN who died on February 14th in Santa Ana
Jason DELANCE who died on February 17th in Cypress
Jose CENICEROS who died on February 17th in Garden Grove
Dean RAULSTON who died on February 18th in Cypress
Erik LOPEZ CANO who died on February 18th in Costa Mesa
Rex BROWNING who died on February 20th in Anaheim
Juan PULIDO who died on February 20th in Santa Ana
Vincent HOEFFLER who died on February 21st in Orange
Michael VU who died on February 21st in Placentia
Debby NGUYEN who died on February 22nd in Stanton
Jesus RESENDIZ who died on February 23rd in Newport Beach
Marina CHAVEZ who died on February 24th in Fountain Valley
Michael BOWCOCK who died on February 24th in San Clemente
Julie HUNTSMAN who died on February 27th in Orange
Diona DEMARCO GRAHAM who died on February 28th in Anaheim
Britni WENCK who died on February 28th in Anaheim
The number is comparable to last year 2024 (33), significantly lower than in the two peak years of 2022 (48), and 2023 (48), similar again to 2021 (29) and significantly higher than in pre-Covid years of 2020 (20) and 2019 (20).
These numbers do actually tell a story. Homeless deaths did immediately go up with the onset of COVID-19 (perhaps more to increased isolation than to the disease itself). Then in 2022 and 2023 the numbers spiked. Yet last year they did go down not only for February but for the entire year to “pre-spike” but “post-Covid era” levels.
It’d be both interesting and potentially life-saving to find out why. Yet, as things stand, we’re not going to learn why the numbers decreased last year as compared to the “spike” years of 2022-2023 until this time next year.
I say this because a week ago, on March 17th, the OC Sheriff’s Commission on Homeless Deaths came out with its annual report (the third since 2021) on homeless deaths in OC, but only for the spike year of 2023.
As readers of this column have seen all last year, there was a significant decrease in homeless deaths from 2023 (500) to 2024 (372). It would be useful to ascertain why. Unfortunately, unless something changes, the report on 2024 will only come out at this time next year.
Given the pace of the changes coming from Washington DC these days (conducted with unseemly glee at times even with a wildly swinging a chainsaw in hand, and often resulting in the summary ending of programs without much consideration of what they actually did), it may be too late to save whatever good changes have taken place here in the past several years to save peoples’ lives.
And yes, that is a shame, because … all people matter, even those we do not know.
Fr. Dennis Kriz, OSM, Pastor St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church, Fullerton.
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