My story of the 71-year-old woman living in her car for eight years in El Segundo, with her dog Sandy in the passenger seat, took more than a few interesting turns this past week.
Lee Sevilla and I were overwhelmed by the response, which included hundreds of offers of jobs, money, medical services and housing.
"I have a house in Malibu that sits empty 3 1/2 weeks of the month as I live on the East Coast and the house is for sale," wrote a reader named Jonathan. "She is welcome to move in immediately with her dog."
Laura and Tom in Culver City offered a room in their house. A woman named Teresa offered $6,000 to help with a year of rent after reading that Sevilla said she was $500 a month short of affording an apartment. A man named George offered to contribute up to $18,000, and Sevilla also got offers of free housing in Iowa and Minnesota.
The kindness of strangers brought the part-time receptionist to tears, especially given the blue streak of bad news for those who live on the margins. In a new report, California has the nation's third-worst poverty rate when the cost of living is factored in, and the lack of affordable housing has put tens of thousands on the streets, in their cars, in the bushes and on the edge.
Meanwhile, the new Medicare drug program is failing to reach three out of four low-income senior citizens, California Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman of Irvine expressed pride at trimming rental subsidies and homeless shelter funding from a state public works project and a $70-billion federal tax cut was weighted to benefit those who least need it.
So it was no mystery why Sevilla and I received dozens of passionate commentaries from readers -- elders, especially -- who could identify with her financial struggles in the land of plenty.
"I am 78 yrs old and the article you wrote about Lee Sevilla could be me but for the Grace of God!" wrote Rose Marie De Giorgio of Encino.
"As a 67-year-old retiree, I wonder how long before I find myself in similar straits," wrote Bud Peters of Hawthorne. "I'm currently in a 400 sq. ft. studio at $750/month.... Could I move to lower rent senior housing? Well, I'm currently on 10 waiting lists, some with a backup of 2 or more years."
Sevilla hasn't yet been able to get through all the letters and parcels that swamped the little Playa del Rey post office.
