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Fallbrook under pressure to solve homelessness

A rising number of homeless people on the streets of Fallbrook continues to be a topic of concern for downtown merchants and the community at large.

“There’s a whole new element in town that I’ve never seen before,” Sandy Hull, owner of 100 Main, said.

An update on the issue of homelessness was scheduled Thursday, Feb. 21, for the agenda at Fallbrook’s Community Forum, but it was pushed back until next month due to the speaker being under the weather.

Hull came to the meeting to personally speak up about her experiences. She said recently she had to shoo away two homeless men who were drinking sample bottles of booze in front of her store. In another case, a homeless man looked in the window as though he might steal a customer’s umbrella from her doorway but caught her staring back at him.

“It is very concerning for me, and I don’t know what to do,” Hull said. “I have older ladies that shop here, and I don’t want them to feel like they can’t come in.”

Hull said she is sympathetic, but “I’m also tired of it.”

Her sentiment is one shared by other downtown business owners, who are worried an increase in the presence of homeless people may negatively impact business and be irksome to customers.

Brad Fox, a retired teacher and member of the Fallbrook Homeless Advocacy, voiced at the meeting that there are eight Fallbrook churches who are working to address the issue.

Fox said the church community is empathetic with the merchants and feel it is unfair they have to bear the brunt of the negative consequences.

He said that solving the issue, however, is going to take more involvement than just the two entities.

“This is a community issue, and it needs to be solved by the community,” Fox said in an interview with the Village News.

Hull said she’s willing to be part of the solution; “It’s going to take everybody putting their heads together.”

Last year, a county-mandated total of homeless people in Fallbrook came up with 27 individuals. The “Point-In-Time” count is required once a year on the last Friday of January. This year the total was 46, Fox said, which is a 70 percent increase since 2018.

Fox said that the increase may partially be due to the fact that this year, there were twice as many volunteers helping to find homeless people, who have the tendency to move around.

Fallbrook Homeless Advocacy offers outreach to the homeless on the third Friday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon, by providing warm meals, cleaning stations, clothing and access to services to individuals in need.

“We feel as church members that we serve a God that offers second chances,” Fox said. “So we feel compelled, since we’ve received second chances that others deserve theirs as well, as human beings.”

Some concerned local citizens feel that helping the homeless by doing outreach may be enabling them, and even proposed to end outreach in favor of a more punitive approach.

Fox said while punishment of homeless people who commit crimes may be excusable in some cases, it doesn’t necessarily solve the underlying issues of homelessness and its revolving door.

Hull agreed that the issue was complicated.

“Giving them food isn’t really helping them,” Hull said. “They really need a place they can be housed and taken care of… so the ones that want help can get help.”

Fox said the Fallbrook Advocacy Group is working to address the homeless issue on an individual basis as each person’s needs are different. They meet the first Sunday of every month to see what they can do.

“We are interested in a more holistic, restorative approach,” Fox said. “Interaction and relationship-building are key to helping the homeless rehabilitate their lives.”

Fox has learned that many of the homeless people in Fallbrook, including two former students of his, are suffering from crises beyond their present capability to fix whether it be drug or alcohol addiction, mental health illnesses, malnourishment or physical exhaustion.

Advocates also help each person fill out a personal survey. Through these inquiries, they have learned that many of these people may suffer from poor self-image, abuse, trauma, disabilities, lack of education, lack of family support and loss of identification.

Fox said if the homeless can get their issues addressed whether it be health, identity or legal, they can enter back into society.

The Fallbrook Homeless Advocacy is seeking to synergize its efforts with activists in other rural, unincorporated areas and San Diego County to better learn how to address and solve the issue.

“We want to create some kind of one-stop entity with the county that is mobile and can provide services to the homeless,” Fox said.

So far, the advocacy group has helped two individuals get into rehabilitation facilities.

“They are progressing well and looking forward to graduation,” Fox said.

Now, the group is working with two others, a female and Hispanic male, to get them into rehab with an eye toward housing, employment and restoration.

As a former teacher, Fox said he applies the same values he has with his students.

“People say the homeless are a problem. I don’t use that term. They are an opportunity – a challenge – but they’re worth the effort,” he said.

 

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