Oxnard--Sleep Out Oxnard, an event and resource for the unhoused, faced some cold weather and wind at Oxnard High School, August 6-7, which Organizer Lucy Cartagena said emulates challenges the unhoused community faces daily.
The effort strives to create a permanent funding solution in the City of Oxnard. The area was open to campout and included music, inspirational speakers, and breakfast from Tomas Cafe.
Cartagena said she is excited to get her event off the ground and running.
“Tomas Cafe dropped off a pancake breakfast for us,” she said.
Taking the first step to a better life can be challenging, Lucy said, but you have to keep trying.
“You don’t stop trying,” she said. “Just because they have a block right now doesn’t mean it’s permanent. We know, statistically, that it takes 18 years for an addiction to leave a body.”
She noted that no one is born homeless.
“That means somewhere along the line; the system failed to implement something to help them,” she said. “Now it’s going to take up to 18 months just for them to get some sort of understanding, and another 18 years to get back to normality, whatever that normality may look like.…
