We’re takers mom. That’s all we’ve ever done is take. I want to give back
Don’t bullshit a bullshitter
Don’t think your are kidding anyone. Yes, there are trusting people. But there are also people who have been burned again and again by people they have wanted to help. Every time that happens, your skin gets a little harder, there is one more scab on your heart. Hopefully you remain open to the goodness in people but you also come to realize when you are being worked.
courtesy of a reader who offered to pay for several nights of lodging. Two dozen readers and counting have offered housing of some type, and hundreds offered financial help.
"I have a rather roomy 2-story house in Sherman Oaks, close to the 405 and 101 intersections, with an extra bedroom and bathroom on the ground floor that I would be happy to have Kerry and Destiny use," wrote a reader named Lynn.
"We have two spare bedrooms they could use if that would help them out of a very bad situation," wrote Joy, of Northridge.
In the Hollywood Hills, a mother who has three kids and is pregnant with a fourth offered to take in the Himmels. She said her husband is an emergency room doctor, so he'd be able to keep an eye on Destiny.
"I should probably admit that it can be a little loud around here -- and is probably going to get worse when our new baby arrives next month," wrote Jennie. "But it's warm, clean, and there's lots of food in the fridge."
Kerry Himmel was thrilled to hear about the offers. But I told her there was more to the response than kindness and cheer.
Another reader encouraged me to call Winter Kelly, an executive with Canyon News, a chain of Westside weeklies. When I reached her, Kelly told me she had taken the Himmels into her Beverly Hills apartment in 2007 after Kerry Himmel complained of being destitute and asked for help.
Kelly said she gave Kerry Himmel a part-time job calling on advertising accounts in exchange for rent. She could also earn commissions on top of that.
But Himmel decided to leave the job and the apartment after only one month . Kelly said she was surprised by the decision, and concluded Himmel preferred being homeless to working for a living, even though she had a daughter to care for.
When I confronted Kerry Himmel on Monday morning, I reminded her she had told me she hadn't lived indoors in years. So what about that month in Beverly Hills?
"I honestly forgot about that," she said in the lobby of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, where Destiny was being treated upstairs. She said the work didn't suit her and there was a pay dispute. She said she left the apartment because she thought Kelly was trying to come between mother and daughter.
From the beginning, I'd been sympathetic to the Himmels' plight, particularly given Destiny's illness, which was diagnosed in April 2008. But I was getting more concerned about Kerry Himmel's judgment.
"God can strike me down," the former truck driver said defiantly, insisting she has "done nothing but try to get back on my feet."
One would hope so, particularly for Destiny's sake.
There's no denying that these are hard times for lots of people, and homelessness is a tragedy that hits thousands. Individual stories can be complicated, though, and as I wrote on Sunday, once you've been out there for years you can lose perspective.
Still, there is no acceptable reason, in the end, for having a child live in an SUV while fighting leukemia.
On Sunday, I answered reader requests by telling them they could send checks to the Himmels in my care at The Times. Since then, I've come up with a better plan.
Paul Freese of Public Counsel has agreed to meet with the Himmels, and, if they're willing, to offer legal advice on housing and benefits. And he also referred me to Imagine LA, a nonprofit that describes itself as being "dedicated to making Los Angeles a city where no child sleeps on the street."
Jill Bauman, executive director of Imagine LA, has agreed to manage a fund for the Himmels. "Imagine LA's goal," she said, "is to quickly move homeless families into permanent housing and provide the structure to nurture, train and mentor them to create habits that will help them sustain their independence and even thrive."
I'll pass on to Imagine LA any checks that have already been sent to me directly. In the meantime, donations can be made online
