Almost a year after Palm Springs cut ties with Well in the Desert, homelessness is worse

It has now been almost a year since the Palm Springs City Council unanimously voted to cut off relations with the Well in the Desert, after 25 years of the Well serving the needs of those homeless and poor in the western end of the Coachella Valley.

Yet, despite the negativity and mis-aligned actions of the council, the Well continues serving those in great need.

The Well serves hundreds and hundreds of nutritious daily meals five days a week, including outreach to those who are unable to make it to our lunch sites. We provide the main dish to the United Methodist Church, who serves a hot meal on Saturdays. We are thankful for our partners at four churches, all of whom are loyal and wonderful towards those on the streets. Our services include clothing, counseling, one-way tickets home, bus passes, giving bicycles for transportation, counseling and whatever else that is in our power to do.

We show love and compassion towards those seeking our services. 

Our board consists of a group of community activists, all of whom roll up their sleeves to assist those not as fortunate as ourselves. Our volunteers are cheerful and caring, and are such a big part of the organization. Our employees, many of whom were once homeless, are hard-working, devoted people who love the Well.

One year later and under the city’s leadership, we've seen the number of homeless  people around town — and especially in our downtown — grow tremendously since the Well was run out of our downtown cooling center.

The calls are overwhelming for help from the community, and emails to city leadership have gone mostly unanswered to those asking questions.

We hear every one of you and share the same concerns at the growing population and problems. As hundreds of thousands of dollars — and soon millions for a new navigation center — have been thrown at other organizations and pet projects, nothing has changed or will change.

We are told "it's about the numbers," but just looking around town proves that spending money without proper knowledge doesn't work. Our homeless are growing by huge numbers, showing that the Well's cooling center downtown did work.

Our goals are to continue serving those in the community who are the most vulnerable and in need. Sometimes it feels daunting, but seeing the faces of so many kind and decent people, we are buoyed and our hearts and spirits soar to allow us to do the work we need to do.

We believe we have the ability to help with the growing problems downtown, but this council will not meet with us, nor listen. Isn't it time they take us seriously?

After 25 years and all of our efforts, we are worth being included in this very serious conversation.

It is our hope that one day there will be people on the council who will grant us the respect and dignity we deserve for all of the years we have worked in Palm Springs, and will recognize a grassroots organization — not out for power, glory or money — for the goodness we have brought to so many over the years.

The Well in the Desert offers dignity, compassion, respect and tough love to a community at risk. We deserve better than what happened a year ago. We continue to be advocates for those that don’t have a voice. We thank those in the community that do have passion and donate to the cause. We are not going anywhere.

We invite you to help support us in our mission at WellintheDesert.org.

Arlene Rosenthal is the president of Well in the Desert, and Matt Naylor is the vice president.