Cecilia Castillo, Councilman Mike Bonin’s Venice Deputy, has already been notified and cleanup is forthcoming. Normally, it is cleaned after the beachfront on the last Friday of the month but this last Friday the cleanup group did not have time.

No one seems to have answers to this homeless situation. Many say having housing will solve the problem. On the other end of the spectrum are those who say discouraging them; getting them out of here will do it. Laws and injunctions have been effected to protect this way of life.

Many are capable of getting a job and maintaining it. Many are not. Many are on drugs. Many suffer the pitfalls of having been on drugs too long. Many are alcoholics. Some, but few, are truly mentally ill.

Many are in transit. Many want to live here-not New York, not Oregon, not Washington, not Chicago. It is the weather!

The big thing is that few want help. Those on drugs and alcohol certainly do not want help. They just want a drink or a fix. Those mentally ill, do not know they need help.

The older people who have been there and done that are truly seeking help. They want shelter and they want subsistence.

The younger ones are seeking. They are broke for one reason or another. They are checking out the world. Being homeless and living on the street is cheap. One can go from one end of the country to the next. Some start to raise a family this way. It has become a means and a way of life.

Some use the facilities in Venice available for them but most don’t. St. Joseph’s provides food, clothing, and sends people to Chrysalis for work.

It certainly is not the Update’s position to condemn. It is the Update’s position to paint this picture as realistically as possible. Perhaps, in doing such, answers will be forthcoming. It is obvious that this is not a one-shot fix. It is complex.