By PW Robinson –
Veronica Sanchez, well-known local animal activist with Legacy of Love, was driving through Midtown one afternoon when she saw an elderly homeless woman struggling with her cart. Veronica pulled over and approached her. She quickly realized the woman was injured, exhausted, and in deteriorating condition. She decided to do something about it.
She loaded the woman’s belongings into her vehicle, brought her to a nearby motel, and paid for several nights so she could rest safely indoors. To protect her identity, Veronica later wrote about her on NextDoor using the name “Barbara.” Within hours, neighbors were offering help – financially, materially, and spiritually.
I saw Veronica’s posts and reached out. As a former homeless person myself, I hoped I might offer perspective on what to expect. I cautioned her to protect her warm heart; people surviving on the streets often struggle to trust anyone, even those trying to help them.
I had recently attended a meeting of the faith-based Ventura County Safe and Stable Task Force, where the focus was the rapidly growing number of elderly unhoused residents. The trends paint a frightening picture: more people are aging into homelessness, while others are being pushed from housing and onto the streets for the first time late in life.
Veronica and I decided to create a NextDoor group called Friends of Barbara, with the long-term goal of growing it into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our mission is simple: provide bridge-shelter solutions for elderly homeless women while they work toward permanent housing.
Our first Barbara is a small, sweet 73-year-old woman left bent and disabled by an automobile accident years ago. She is bright, funny, fiercely independent, and deeply grateful for the help she’s receiving from the community. When we met her, she had nothing – no identification, no benefits, no social services support after her purse had been stolen. Since then, she has done everything asked of her and has now been presented to the Continuum of Care for housing waitlist consideration. We also received invaluable assistance from Betty Garcia in Homeless Services throughout the process.
What we discovered was a system full of caring, hardworking people constrained by severe shortages of housing, shelter beds, and resources. The process just to be considered for housing can be exhausting, and movement through the system often happens painfully slowly. Barbara’s Medi-Cal and Gold Coast application, for example, was discovered sitting untouched on a desk for weeks. In another instance, she was mistakenly categorized as “at-risk” instead of “homeless,” delaying services further.
I asked Veronica why she stopped to help Barbara that day – why she acted when so many others simply drove by.
She told me about her friend Bryan Brahn, a 70-year-old homeless man who lived on the streets with his two beloved dogs. Veronica had befriended Bryan and helped care for the animals. One day, Bryan was struck and killed in an intersection, with one of his dogs dying beside him. The surviving dog, Bridget, was badly injured and later rescued and rehabilitated by volunteers, including Veronica.
That tragedy permanently impressed upon her the dangers of life outdoors.
There is no place where homeless people are truly safe living outside. When Veronica found Barbara, she was only trying to get off the sidewalk long enough to rest her painfully swollen feet and ankles. She had learned not to fall asleep outside at night and was simply searching for a little shade and relief from the heat.
The dangers are constant. Homeless people may face risks from one another, but we have also witnessed horrific violence inflicted by housed individuals against the unhoused. In Ventura County alone, elderly homeless people have been beaten, kicked, spat upon, and terrorized beneath overpasses and on public streets. Homeless man Dave Pichel was brutally beaten to death on the steps of a church in Oxnard. At the Oxnard train station, two unhoused individuals were murdered execution-style. Countless other incidents go unreported.
People simply must be sheltered and kept safe – especially when they are elderly.
As for Barbara, it took only a single day indoors for her to begin coming back to life. She organized her belongings, washed her clothes, fixed her hair, and put on makeup—all the ordinary things most people take for granted. When Veronica checked on her two days later, she looked like a different person.
A motel room is not a home, and a microwave is not a kitchen, but even temporary shelter offers something immeasurably valuable: safety, rest, privacy, and dignity. Having a bathroom to use is priceless.
Barbara still lives with the uncertainty of homelessness and the fear that she could return to the streets at any moment. But now, at least, she has some measure of stability and dignity again – two things homelessness strips away almost immediately.
There is currently a modest GoFundMe helping support this effort while we organize our nonprofit initiative. Anyone who believes elderly people deserve safety, dignity, and shelter is invited to join us through the Friends of Barbara NextDoor group. No elderly woman should spend her final years trying to survive on a sidewalk. https://nextdoor.com/g/rep82di5u. https://gofund.me/b8e257225.
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Friends of Barbara News
In the coming days, the Friends of Barbara NextDoor group is expected to reach 50 members – an incredible show of support for a grassroots effort focused on elderly homeless care. We have been deeply humbled by the compassion this community has shown.
As we move toward establishing 501(c)(3) status, we will soon hold an introductory Zoom meeting to bring together volunteers, advisors, and community members interested in helping our most vulnerable neighbors. Anyone wishing to participate or join our mailing list can contact myself or Veronica Sanchez directly through NextDoor.
Our mission begins with bridge-sheltering elderly homeless women while helping connect them to housing, identification, benefits, and social services. Ventura County is filled with caring organizations and dedicated people—the greatest shortages remain housing and shelter beds.
Barbara herself still lives with uncertainty. Though safely sheltered for now through the generosity of supporters, she remains only days away from returning to the street. She is 73 years old, disabled from a serious automobile accident, and navigating a system that moves painfully slowly even for those doing everything right.
This community has already helped restore her dignity, safety, and hope. We are asking for continued support as we work toward lasting solutions for Barbara and others like her.
You can join the Friends of Barbara group here: https://nextdoor.com/g/rep82di5u.
