Chameleons in Anaheim

     Orange County…where housewives live in lavish homes and fight and gossip over menial matters; where Mickey and Minnie play host every day to thousands of visitors from around the world coming to visit the happiest place in the world. Well this is not reality for the 4200 plus homeless in the OC. In the course of a year, there will be 12,700 homeless people in Orange County. Of those, 60% will live on the street and 40% will use some sort of shelter; such as, temporary shelter, vehicles, etc.    

 

   Most of us don’t even see the homeless anymore; they blend right into the scenery like chameleons. And those that do see them either fear them or are annoyed by them…he’s the guy standing in their way begging for spare change as they try to enter the 7-11. Well Mr. John Phillips was one such chameleon.

 

   Mr. Phillips was a BMW technician for 28 years before he lost his job in 2001. He and his wife soon divorced around the same time. After being unemployed for several years, he thought his luck had finally changed when he landed a job with a commercial cooling company in 2009, but due to a falling economy he found himself unemployed once again. 

 

  John became depressed. His only option was to get government assistance through California’s Department of Social Services. Under this program, the government provided John with financial assistance, in return John was required to work at the food bank in Garden Grove. John describes this as the beginning of a new chapter in his life. The director at the food bank introduced John to an employee of Mercy House. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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