A homeless man was reunited with his mother.
Thanks to the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness (PPTFH), a missing man was reunited with his family.
Almost daily, Sharon Kilbride, a past president of the PPTFH does rounds on Will Rogers Historic Beach. She speaks to the homeless, she learns their names and she offers them help.
It was on the beach she found Paul in a small camp. He seemed shy, but accepted some snacks, a hygiene kit and a card that directed him to the weekly meet-up at the base of Temescal Canyon Boulevard, which is led by the outreach team from The People Concern (funded through donations to PPTFH).
Kilbride described the young man as sweet and possibly on the spectrum. He became a regular at the Wednesday meetups. He told Sharon that he came from Ontario, but said he couldn’t go home.
“Weeks went by, and Paul was becoming more fragile,” Kilbride said, “and needed daily attention from our volunteers, and our outreach angels Glanda and Taylor (People’s Concern). We all knew he was getting stressed living on the beach and afraid of the dangers of living alone outdoors.”
He had been in the Palisades area for about eight weeks, when the PPTFH received an email. “Hello, my name is Carol. My son, Paul, has been missing for nine weeks. I was in contact with West Coast Care, and they say they saw him around Will Rogers State Beach. I have been out there a couple of times with no luck.” The mother had created a flyer and attached it to the email.
Kilbride said, “When I received this urgent email on August 19, my heart skipped a beat since I knew exactly who Paul was, he had been in the Palisades since June. I immediately called Carol and told her not to worry.”
She told the mother the steps that the outreach workers had been taking and that Paul was safe.
Kilbride said the mother was elated and weeping on call. The mother told her that Paul had disappeared previously and had been found in Santa Monica.
Carol had spent several days coming to this area and walking the beaches and the bike path looking for her son. She said she had filed a missing person’s report with Santa Monica Police and then contacted West Coast Care, which serves folks along the Palisades Beaches.
Josh Hooks from West Coast Care told her to try PPTFH. Carol had never heard of the group but found the website and sent an email.
After speaking to Kilbride, the next step was to arrange for Carol to drive from her home in Ontario to meet her son and see if he would be willing to return home.
On August 20th the outreach team was standing by for the reunification process. They first had to make sure Paul was sleeping in his spot on Temescal. Resident Sue Kohl, who walks that route daily and had given Paul granola bars, verified he was there.
“I arrived at Paul’s spot with one of our Volunteer Response team members Tom and met with our outreach team from the People Concern,” Kilbride said. Paul’s mother arrived and it was decided that Kilbride should speak to Paul, first.
“I went over and started a conversation and warned him how dangerous it was living outdoors.” Kilbride said. “I also warned him about camping in a high fire zone and that the police might ticket him. I told him that he had a loving mother that wanted him home and how lucky he was to have her in his life.”
Paul told Kilbride he missed his mom and then Kilbride waved Carol over.“The rest was a wonderful moment tears and hugs,” Kilbride said and added that his mom brought him his favorite sandwich, PBJ, which he ate quickly.
The outreach team Glanda and Taylor then came over, and they all hugged goodbye and made a human bridge that Paul crossed under to the “Bridge” home. Working together, West Coast Care, The People Concern, and PPTFH were able to build a bridge leading Paul home—a success story should be shared and celebrated.
The outreach workers for Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness, Taylor (left) and Glanda (right) make a bridge for Paul to go under . . ..on his way home.
Kilbride said, “Our volunteer response team members always hope for more of these magical moments.” And she made a plea for more residents to volunteer to interact, hand out granola bars and cards that direct the homeless to the outreach team.
If one cannot physically volunteer, donations are accepted that go directly to the Palisades outreach team and the caseworker that was brought aboard to deal with those that might have mental issues.
How wonderful. Amazing success from great people in our community
Such a wonderful story. If only our larger world functioned with such caring and humanity.
Thank you for sharing and thank you PPTFH.
This is my son and myself when we reunited. Paul is receiving counseling and he improves every day. PPTFH are Angel’s! I can’t thank them enough for the work they do!