The homeless of Mariner\u2019s Point in Mission Bay Park know “the egg and cheese” lady who comes to feed them.
\nWhat they\u2019re probably not aware of is where she comes from, White Sands Retirement Community in La Jolla.
\nThe homeless helper is Pat Guerrero, activities director at the retirement center, who now has an accomplice,\u00a0
\nWhite Sands resident Lois Ream.
\nOn Mondays, during Guerrero\u2019s lunch break, the pair drive down to a homeless camp on Mariner\u2019s Point to hand out eggs, cheese, crackers and compassion.
\n“You have to look at them and see them to let them know that you care,” said Guerrero. “They know our names and they respect us.”
\n“You have to do what you can do,” implored Ream. “You have to do something.”
\nGuerrero brings hard-boiled eggs and string cheese for the homeless because those items can be easily “tucked in a pocket.” Ream brings complementary crackers.
\nReam collects shoes at White Sands for the homeless. Guerrero brings them new socks. “You can put them on your hands if you\u2019re cold,” she noted.
\nBoth strongly Christian women see homeless aid as part of their life\u2019s mission. And both have skin in the game. Guerrero\u2019s late ex-husband was a recovering alcoholic who felt “safer” on the street. “If I\u2019m feeding this person \u2026 maybe someone (else) was helping my husband,” Guerrero said.
\nReam has a homeless, substance-abusing relation in Denver. “We just give from the bottom of our hearts and say, \u2018Here it is,\u2019 said Ream. “I don\u2019t think of it as anything else but love.”
\nWhy do Guerrero and Ream tend to the homeless?\u00a0
\n“Even though my ex-husband isn\u2019t out there anymore, somebody\u2019s husband, somebody\u2019s brother is out there,” said Guerrero. “We\u2019re just helping them get by.”
\n“How do you feel when you finish doing your dishes or cleaning?” answered Ream. “This is just what I do. I don\u2019t have to feel good, or elated. I\u2019ve done it all my life.”
\nBoth women discussed what needs to be done to give the homeless a hand up.
\n“I\u2019d like to see something done about separating the mentally ill from the people dedicated to being homeless,” said Ream, who added she opposes young drug offenders being thrown into prison, preferring they get job training instead.
\n“What I\u2019d like to see done is just to provide them with the basics: a bathroom, a shower,” said Guerrero. “That would help give them a little sense of their dignity back. We need to give them a purpose, a sense of being validated.”
\n“You\u2019ve got to do it because you\u2019re called to do it,” concluded Ream about aiding the homeless.
\nAccording to recent statistics from\u00a0WeAllCount, San Diego County has the fourth-largest homeless population in the United States, with an estimated 9,100 people affected.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The homeless of Mariner\u2019s Point in Mission Bay Park know “the egg and cheese” lady who comes to feed them. What they\u2019re probably not aware of is where she comes from, White Sands Retirement Community in La Jolla. The homeless helper is Pat Guerrero, activities director at the retirement center, who now has an accomplice,\u00a0 […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":278925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11559","_seopress_titles_title":"Homeless helpers' purvey food, compassion to those in need","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11559,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-278924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beach-bay-press","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}