VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR HOMELESS COUNT:
The annual homeless count has been moved from January to Wednesday, February 23, because of the Covid surge. Palisades residents Kim Clary and David Morena, who organize the local count, need verification from people who had originally signed up to volunteer if they are still available. Additionally, they are still looking for volunteers for the early morning count (meet at Corpus Christi Church parking lot at 5:30 a.m.). Email:kimjdave@msn.com.
The two men, by an RV in the Ballona Wetlands, were so strung out on drugs they had trouble sitting up. Needles have been found in this environmentally-sensitive area.
JANUARY 24 SPEAKER TO ADDRESS ADDICTION:
The Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness hosts bi-monthly forums to connect with the Palisades community to answer questions, solicit ideas, provide progress updates, and introduce experts who can address the pressing issues related to homelessness.
On Monday, January 24, at 7 p.m., the featured speaker (via Zoom) will be Dr. Christine Grella, the co-director of UCLA’s Integrated Substance Abuse Programs. She will speak on “The Hope and Challenges of Treating Addiction.”
PPTFH volunteers are discovering that addiction is “creating a wave of mental illness” among unhoused individuals, further complicating the solution to homelessness.
Writing in The Atlantic (October 18, “I Don’t Know That I Would Even Call It Meth”), Sam Quinones noted that a new kind of meth P2P, produced synthetically, is presenting increased dangers to homeless individuals as well as the communities in which they live.“Ephedrine meth tended to damage people gradually, over years. With the switchover to P2P meth, that damage seemed to accelerate, especially damage to the brain,” Quinones wrote.
Dr. Grella will speak about the current research and approaches to intervention and treatment of addiction. What is required to genuinely help an addict, particularly someone who is homeless? Is there realistic hope for addressing addiction? What can we as community members do to help?
Register for the Zoom meeting, and questions and comments can be submitted in advance. Visit: pptfh.org.