Chastises SCPH
Southern California Presbyterian Homes, now being called the be.group, conveniently takes away the church front, removes the idea of charity, and deletes concept of love thy neighbor. It does not, however, take away the non-profit status, which seems to be forgotten. And I have just learned that this home for the elderly was established with charity and affordable housing as its core.

The beauty of that campus, filled with oak trees, open space to walk, and being within the community [is that it is] where its residents have spent most of their life; where they have their doctors, pharmacist, dentist, and other medical support established; where they have their family nearby, familiar social and community activities. This is a valuable community asset. It should remain. There should be more of these open and well laid out communities for our elderly – not less. How wrong to yank it all away, totally discounting the worth of the residents, people, community members, who currently reside there.

We will all be elderly someday. How do we want to be treated?  I know I do not want to be forcefully dislodged from my own community, against my will, after having put my trust in a situation where I no longer own the property.

Pam Lawler
La Crescenta

How Have They Survived?
So let me see if I’ve got this right.
The generous donation of Twelve Oaks by early settlers James and Effie Fifield is now deemed “more difficult to traverse” according to the vice president of Marketing and Communications for the be.group. I scratch my head and wonder how its residents have managed to survive at Twelve Oaks for the past 80 years. The Fifields donated the property for the express purpose of caring for the elderly.  If the be.group now finds the grounds too difficult to manage; they should return it to the trust that first granted them operational control, for which they apparently paid zero, and gracefully exit the stage.

We’ve shared a backyard fence with this idyllic property for nearly 30 years.   Most mornings and evenings the residents of Twelve Oaks stroll through the neighborhood and wave hello as they pass our home. That is until recently when they were unceremoniously booted from the very place they’d hope to live out their days.      Thankfully, many folks are living longer, healthier lives. I guess their longevity doesn’t bode well for the vultures that see an opportunity to make a sizable chunk of change no matter what the human cost.

Soon Twelve Oaks may be but a memory, its splendor replaced by a projected 25 new homes. Given the City’s propensity for granting permits for ostentatious home remodels and over-development in general, I don’t hold out much hope for this beautiful landmark.

But I’ll be watching. And I vote.

Kathy Dorsey
Glendale

For Shame!
This is an open letter to Southern California Presbyterian Homes, AKA “Be Group”:

Churches are about community. Churches are about charity and kindness. Churches bring together people from all walks of life to share in a message that is bigger than us all.

Apparently, your church is not about these things. Your church is about making a selfish profit. Your church is about ripping the elderly from their peaceful homes. Your church has such a small vision that it will to tear apart a community and leave members of America’s greatest generation homeless just for the selfish spoils of business. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Really? I mean, really?! You are going to take these elderly from their homes? People who have lived in this community their whole lives? Who do you think you are? Have you no respect for the generation that built this country? The generation that fought for you and everyone alive today? These are the people who survived the Depression, fought through World War II, and built America into the country it is today, and this is the thanks they get?

You may have a limited vision of history and you may not grasp all that the people before us have done. But have you ever hear the phrase “respect your elders?” If nothing else, just have respect for your elders.

You say that you are a non-profit organization. That is a lie. You are so focused on making a profit that you are willing to take people out of their homes. Do you have any idea how wrong and amoral that is?

I am a high school senior and as I start taking my first steps into the real world, this is an extremely disturbing thing to witness. Respect and kindness to elders has always been a huge part of my life, but I can see that it is not even a spare thought for you in this situation.

What a sad mess you’ve made.

Isabel Lawler
La Crescenta

Syrian War Equals Insanity
The United States getting involved in another foreign war, this time with Syria, is an outright insanity! In yesterday’s headline from a major media source it stated that our president will be ignoring the UN and wants to go ahead on and have a war. First of all, since when does the UN have the authority to approve war? According to our U.S. Constitution, only Congress has the authorization to declare war. What an insult to Congress and, if they allow this to occur, then they are just as much in treason as our President.

The blatant disregard for what I was taught in school as being the “supreme” law of the land, our United States Constitution, is not only frightening but an absolute insult to the intelligence of any U.S. citizen who has any education on how this country was set up and how it became a free one.

This is just another violation of our treasured supreme law of the land and, unless we speak out against these violations, we are condoning them.

I watch regular news (though less and less these days as I am convinced it is highly controlled as a propaganda mouthpiece for the general populace) and I also keep track of alternative news sources to get more information as to what is “really” going on. There is evidence that the U.S. supplied the chemical weapons to the Syrian rebels and has an agenda to play out in this war and, all the while, deceiving the American public as usual.

I am a former military officer and am 100% certain that if we as citizens don’t start demanding of our officials the truth, we may not be around for long. I would like to see our country go back on the policy that is its God given right.

Larry Chase
La Crescenta

Scratching His Head
Why is it that kids who goof off during the school year always receive the free summer school classes while the kids who are trying to prepare for advanced classes have to pay for summer school classes? I know there are kids who struggle in certain subjects and really need the summer classes. But should students who choose to goof off every school year and who never learn from their mistakes receive free summer school? Aren’t they going to have similar behavior during summer school? Isn’t it a waste of the schools’ money for those kids to receive free summer school?

For example, a summer intro class is essential for kids who are heading into ninth grade algebra. An Introduction to Algebra class used to be required, but now it is not because these students have to pay for the class. Not everyone has money to pay for the class, but the class is still essential if kids want to succeed in algebra. Won’t these kids who are heading into a more challenging level of math listen better to the teacher? Don’t they deserve the help as well?

The schools should be fair and make better decisions. Waste money or use it wisely.

Ridge Shomali
Montrose

  Isabel Lawler, Kathy Dorsey, Larry Chase, Pam Lawler, Ridge Shomali