Woman, 97, has a front seat to homelessness

She's 97 years old and homeless. Bessie Mae Berger has her two boys, and that's about all.

She and sons Larry Wilkerson, 60, and Charlie Wilkerson, 62, live in a 1973 Chevrolet Suburban they park each night on a busy Venice street.

For the most part, it's a lonely life -- days spent passing the time away in public parks, parking lots and shopping centers around the Westside.

Occasionally, when they need cash, Bessie sits by the side of the road and seeks handouts. She holds a cardboard sign in her lap: "I am 97 years old. Homeless. Broke. Need help please."

This has attracted attention -- both wanted and unwanted.

Randall Zook, a Culver City TV advertising producer, pulled over on a recent day when he saw her holding the sign in front of a Costco on Washington Boulevard.

"This little lady hit me deeply. I said I have to do something. I just can't pass by her," Zook said. "I went over and talked to her and was moved by her dignity. She wasn't begging. She just asked, 'Do you have a home for me?' "

Zook didn't, but he gave her "more money than I've ever given anyone."

For everyone who gives, there are many others who just drive by or simply stare.

"It makes me feel like I'm a bum," Bessie said. "I don't mind living at the mercy of the public because some of the public is good -- they're nice to me. But there are some that are nasty. Some of them laugh at me and my sign. They say they don't think I'm 97 years old."

Reaching slowly into a pocket, she pulls out a laminated California state identification card that shows her date of birth: March 2, 1912.

Los Angeles police have warned her not to beg. And some passersby have turned to her sons, questioning why they cannot properly care for her.

"They ask why we aren't able to get her off the street. But we can't. I have no income whatsoever," Larry Wilkerson said.

"A few days ago, my mother was sitting out with a sign over at Lincoln and Olympic. We were sitting four hours and she was doing pretty good. But then a police officer came along and said, 'You can't do this' and ordered us off."

Nighttime is the most uncomfortable part of their lives.

About 8:30 p.m., when Bessie tries to fall asleep, they use magnets to stretch a thin blue blanket over their SUV's windshield to block the streetlights.

Charlie and Larry listen to a battery-operated portable radio-TV (the television doesn't work) or chat quietly until about 10, when they try to doze off.