Another 23 people died “without fixed abode” in OC in January. Their names are:
Eppie HERRERA who died on January 1st in Placentia
Douglas FAGAN who died on January 2nd in Garden Grove
Zackery MORLEY who died on January 3rd in Garden Grove
Jeremy KENNEDY who died on January 5th in Stanton
Noah EWING who died on January 5th in Santa Ana
Santiago HIGAREDA, JR. who died on January 7th in Orange
Jamal ESTES who died on January 8th in Westminster
Brian BUDNOVICH who died on January 8th in La Palma
Jorge CHINCHILLA who died on January 10th in Santa Ana
James JONES III who died on January 12th in Anaheim
Corinne FORREST who died on January 13th in Westminster
Julian BELTRAN who died on January 14th in Garden Grove
Ernest HERNANDEZ who died on January 15th in Placentia
Garry JONES who died on January 18th in Newport Beach
John STEEN who died on January 19th in Huntington Beach
Antolin TOLEDO SEVILLA who died on January 19th in Santa Ana
Andy SHIH who died on January 20th in Irvine
Ted PUTNAM who died on January 23rd in Garden Grove
Lavelle WATKINS who died on January 24th in Buena Park
John WALKER who died on January 25th in Anaheim
Scott VINCENT who died on January 27th in Garden Grove
Robert CHAVEZ who died on January 28th in Fountain Valley
Gelmin ARITAPINEDA who died on January 30th in Anaheim
Additionally, there was:
Infant female PAIKAR who died on November 30th in Fountain Valley whose death only appeared in the OC Coroner’s database in January.
The twenty-three deaths represent a 50% reduction in the number of deaths among those who died “without fixed abode over previous years (in January 2024 the death toll was 49) and represent the lowest death count among this population for January since 2020, when 20 were reported.
By most accounts, the reduction in deaths is the result of the now widespread distribution of Narcan an antidote for opioid overdoses. However, we had a mild and largely rain-free January as well.
As always, there remain questions about who is included in the Coroner’s list. There have been examples of persons who are widely known to have been unhoused but sleeping in shelters or dying in hospitals who haven’t been included among those who had been “living without fixed abode.” Perhaps these questions can be taken up by the County in the coming months as accurate numbers are required for making good decisions.
Then on the ground, as always, there appear to be both lights and shadows:
The City of San Clemente recently dodged a moral bullet when it voted down an ordinance that would have required groups handing out food to the poor in public areas to get a permit to do so. One speaker at the City Council Meeting called the proposed Ordinance as one that “criminalized kindness.”
The City of Fullerton on the other hand, with OC Supervisor Doug Chafee’s support, approved a modest if much needed program to provide hotel vouchers for at least homeless families with kids during the winter months. The program followed the example of OC Supervisor Sarmiento’s program in OC District #2 offering hotel vouchers again to at least families with kids during the winter months.
We’ve been “lucky” that there has been little rain this winter, but truly no one should be forced to sleep outside in the rain. So those “cold weather hotel vouchers” really should be offered to all people who find themselves sleeping on the streets during those months.
Similarly, I would not want to be the case worker tasked to explain to a family with small kids at the end of the “cold weather” season that this voucher program was coming to an end as “summer” was coming on.
Still these modest efforts deserve a good deal of praise, even as they really ought to be expanded to cover the true need – no senior should ever be forced to sleep on the street, nor any family with children. Finally, no one at all should be forced to sleep on the street in the rain. That really ought to be the absolute minimum for a compassionate response to homelessness on the local level.
I do realize that truly none of us know what is coming on the national level, and that our current national leaders’ celebration of “breaking things” in the service of “moving fast” (to where??), puts much that could be done with regard to our local homeless population somewhat on hold.
But every person who dies on our streets is a person who by definition was not helped. And yes, anxiety pushes people to find ways to calm their nerves …
So we are not merely “breaking things” but breaking people … as we wait for help.
Fr. Dennis Kriz, OSM, Pastor St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church, Fullerton.
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