She now has housing!!!!! Abstract Afrofuturist painter: Picassa
Ten years ago, early morning strolls along San Diego pier exposed an often shadow-population of the un-housed who slept while others sat awake to watch over them and to chase away predatory night dwellers who slept during the day so they could prey on the weak after midnight while seeming to casually wander the pier and San Diego's downtown city streets. For the vulnerable on side streets nights were and still are very long all year.
Sidewalk tent community Photo by Delores Fisher, blogger 2023
Picassa and I met one early fairly sunny San Diego California morning while I was taking a stroll to clear my mind about a recent 2014 blog post. I felt as if something was shifting. I felt unsettled as I walked near the now defunct Anthony's Fish Grotto. A chestnut brown face was looking up at me. She smiled. Spread out in front of her front were a series of unique miniature abstract paintings. She spoke softly and continued to smile. Hi, my name is . . .
The Homeless who sat along the pier were usually artists or musicians back then. They told me they were "trying to get back on their feet"
and could almost disappear behind a semi-cloak of rumpled but "clean clothes
benign
respectability" if they had money to go to a laundromat. Quite a few
small business owners and churches noticed. So did various shelters They
quietly provided services on limited budgets.
Those almost invisible people were the homeless population of ten years ago barely noticed by tourists, or nearby communities.We San Diegans could not possibly foresee the full-on arrival of overwhelming numbers of homeless in the next ten years desperate, poor, arrivals from other states who were too invested in political ping pong with the souls of those they discarded. Picassa noticed the change back then.
Picassa and I talked a long time some early weekend mornings along the pier. She expressed fear about the current housing market and what was happening. At that time, she had minimal housing and a small amount for food, clothing, and art supplies. She was trying to develop her artwork and website despite housing challenges.
Shelters began to fill with the elderly, families, widowers, youth as housing alternative began to shrink. Then, the veteran population of homeless exploded in San Diego. For many, rough wooden benches and sleeping bags on concrete were replaced by eco friendly/homeless deterrent areas. The un-housed adapted, especially veterans who went to canyons, riverbeds, and forested areas like Pacific Beach. In the early morning air, roused by police or warmth of sunshine, joggers, and those on the early morning shift, increasing numbers of homeless people gathered their belongings to hide on side streets, in parks, on Trolleys, and on beaches.
Picassa, in her own situational cluster, tried to help guide many, including San Diego's often stressed homeless veteran's community to at least seek available veteran outreach assistance. She was among those who fit seamlessly into our daily denial. All these years, she has continued to work on her artistry and has truly evolved into an Afrofuturist artists.
And today in 2023, San Diego is one of those cities that is seemingly under siege by political rhetoric and finger pointing from those who helped increase the influx of people in the first place.
In California, San Diego and other cities like Los Angeles are still in a very difficult housing crisis. Yet, during this ongoing dilemma, innovations, programs, assistance, and conscientious real estate companies with a heart for our United States people are stepping up to the task with viable solutions.
Can those states whose only solution is to ship people to California say the same?????
I have known this San Diego street artist for almost ten years. She is part of the homeless community who is working to help others believe in hope for change. Picassa is an artists who knows the complexity of the issues and quietly helps others on the daily. She is thankful for the grace of God that let her survive COVID 19. She is also thankful for medical intervention and new housing options. "Many everyday kindnesses from a lot of people. she smiles."She is alive and has resumed her miniature paintings.
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This is a City of San Diego and surrounding county-wide community effort by the wealthy, middle class, and working poor who walk over tents and semi-clothed bodies that lay out in the open on our city streets. Some need mental health and substance intervention. Once off the street and into secure housing, some homeless people face years of socialization from street life.
Homelessness is a complex life tragedy that too many has faced or are facing. Add economic dynamics of ongoing U.S. poverty, employment instability, poor immigrant and asylum seekers.infrastructure decay, lack of affordable/consistent health. We all need to consider the impact on our national and for the philanthropic:our personal resources. More programs are needed.
Although still facing challenges, and although what seems like viable long term solutions sometimes fail, Picassa is now one positive example of a city wide innovative, multi-varied approach to embrace our homeless population's humanity.
Musewoman,
delores fisher
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