EDITORIAL: Changes for the homeless

The return of one of the city’s chronic homeless men after months in a detox program illustrates how difficult it is to change the ways of people accustomed to living on the streets.

“Cowboy,” as this man is known, is once again showing up on the police blotter — but not, so far, as having been hauled off to the drunk tank, as was the case multiple times a week not so long ago. In one incident, passersby were complaining he was asking for cigarettes, and in another he was apparently being beaten up. (But the log went on to state he was OK.)

This must be disappointing for Officer Jason Farris, who got Cowboy off the street and into a program shortly after starting on the newly created homeless beat last winter. It was a stunning success and a turnaround for a man who had been living on the streets of Laguna Beach for much of his adult life. We hope this is a temporary setback, or a little detour, and that Cowboy will be back on track soon.

There is a noticeable increase in the number of homeless people in town this summer, and with the economy in the worst shape it’s been in for decades — perhaps since the Great Depression — we shouldn’t be surprised to see more folks with backpacks traveling through and stopping to rest for a while.

This week, the city unveiled its Create Change, Don’t Give Change program, designed to discourage panhandling by providing methods of donating cash to organizations that will help homeless people get into better situations. That’s a much more constructive thing to do with your “spare change” than handing it over to someone on the street who appears to be in need of help but is probably going to use that money for an intoxicant, which does not really help.

Soon, decorated parking meters will appear at strategic locations as alternatives to panhandlers, and a new website is now up, www.change4homeless.com, to take donations for the Laguna Resource Center, which provides great services to homeless people in the city, and is planning even more services in the future.

This is a constructive and caring response to an issue that has dogged many coastal California towns and isn’t going away soon.