Advocate: homeless sleeping in fear amid escalating violent attacks in Pacific Beach
Homeless advocates say there is a growing fear on the streets amid a string of violent attacks against the homeless in Pacific Beach.
and last updated 2021-01-29 14:07:09-05
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Homeless advocates say there is a growing fear on the streets amid a string of violent attacks against the homeless in Pacific Beach.
Six months ago, Eric Thompson, who is homeless, was sleeping behind the O Reilly Auto Parts store on Garnett Avenue, when we was woken up with pepper spray. They maced by eyes. Almost got hit twice by cars because of it, said Thompson.
SAN DIEGO
Lekeita Smith has a steady job, a positive attitude, five children and, her friends say, an infectious laugh.
What she doesn’t have is a home.
“I’ve been trying and trying,” she said recently. “The cost of living out here is so expensive.”
Smith said she became homeless after losing her job at an Oceanside bakery three years ago. She has another job these days, but at $13 an hour she hasn’t been able to afford a room.
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She spends nights sleeping behind a car dealership in Pacific Beach before catching a bus to her custodial job at 5:30 or 6 a.m.
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Amie Zamudio has spent decades serving the local homeless population, working to find them housing and seeing to their basic needs while providing a connection that recognizes and honors their humanity.
“I do whatever is needed,” Zamudio said, which starts with building a relationship with those she encounters. “I’m very person-centered in my work, which is a little different than the status quo.”
Zamudio, a current Bird Rock resident who has lived in La Jolla since 1979 and a La Jolla High School graduate, said she works “very hard to meet people where they are at. There are people in different spaces, and they are in their predicaments for many different reasons. When you go in with a preconceived set of notions of what you think is best for that person, that’s how we often fail our housing insecure neighbors.”