LAURIE MAEMURA

Homeless in LA: Paradise Meets Misery

Published on Annenberg Interactives for “The Faces of Los Angeles’ Homeless.”

On a long stretch of  Venice Beach, she’s resting on her back in a blue sleeping bag in a flimsy tent with her 1-year-old black cat named Euphora Ninja Princess.

An MRI revealed a compression that causes  her unbearable pain. It’s so severe that it causes her stress and tears when she moves even the slightest. Showering isn’t a priority anymore and she took her last painkiller hours ago.

While Euphora’s instinct is to chase pigeons, Paterka can only watch and smile at her baby she rescued behind a dumpster in San Diego last September.

“She has been my little angel every since,” she said.

Just the other day, she says a police officer told her, ‘If you’re not off this beach in two days, we’ll beat you off this beach.

She doesn’t trust the police.

“I don’t even know what that means … what are you going to do to me? I can’t even stand up. If you’re gonna cite me, cite me. Don’t trigger some kind of fear. I already have a lot going on right now,” she said.

The police gave her a citation and Paterka believes she will get more.

“I’m doing everything I can in my power but I’m not going to abandon her. One rule that I always stand by is, ‘Don’t abandon the ones you love,’” she said.

Her parents live in Ohio and sometimes send $25.

But Paterka is physically stuck in a place where paradise meets misery.

Even the most pressing activities such as urinating and walking is “humiliating.” When she tries to dig a hole, she can only crawl a few inches.

“It’s not my idea of living, especially when it hurts. When people walk by, I like to make them happy, not sad. I’m a human vessel. I still need to give back,” she said.

Unlike her nearby acquaintances who are homeless, she prefers to be called “houseless.”

Paterka says she once lived in San Diego where she did modeling. She was also dancing, singing, and performed music with her harmonica.

She lost all of her belongings last year when she she was sent to jail.

She served three months for what she said was an accessory to murder conviction.

When she got out, she found herself asking for money with a GoFundMe account. But it only worked for one month and helped her rent a car for a short time.

She also used the money to purchase goat milk for Euphora when she was a kitten.

In January, she returned the car and leaned on the help of strangers who promised her a safe place to stay.

“San Diego ate me up a few times. There are a lot of monsters out there. Just very bad people and unfortunately I’ve had to met a lot of them. I always say to people that, ‘Good always wins in the end,” she said.

Soon after, she moved to Berkeley and worked for Postmates. She says she made $100 in five hours but it wasn’t enough.

Paterka doesn’t trust many people in Venice Beach. She avoids what she calls the antics and soap opera-episodes of other members of the homeless community. For her, Adam Schneider, 42, from Pennsylvania is one of the good guys.

Schneider often visits Paterka’s tent, bringing flowers he collects from nearby houses and restaurants, and healthy food when he can afford it.

“She brought so much to the beach as far as positive energy,” he said. “She has been a true inspiration.”

He says he is lucky to know her. And he prays for miracles so her pain will go away.

“I pray that someone gives her housing as soon as possible so she can actually get the required rest and care and all that she needs to be able to recover and to be the vivacious, charismatic, beautiful person that she is,” he said.

Paterka and Schneider oppose Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s plan to spend $20 million on shelters. In fact, they think his plan would be a real dangerous disaster.

"It would be like an insane asylum and even if you’re not crazy, you might go crazy,” she said.“And disease would spread instantly. It would put them out. It almost sounds like a suicide plan.”

Paterka suggests Garcetti should renovate repossessed houses and create a commune where “we can place the same people in the same nature, at least together so there’s not a bunch of war between everyone that’s living together.

Schneider, who said he has worked as a property preservationist in Pennsylvania, thinks a third of houses should be torn down by homeless individuals who work contract labor jobs with Habitat for Humanity. The renovated homes could be given to the hard workers.

Paterka hopes the mayor rethinks his plans by creating a solution that is humane. “It sounds like a way to cattle them up” - and bring professionals in each arena to find a way to give these people’s lives again.

“It’s not a good solution unless you’re handling with care. These are people’s lives,” she said.“Each life is important. There’s so many beautiful people out here.”