Homeless activists and supporters spent Easter Sunday on a four-mile trek by foot to Oprah Winfrey’s estate in Montecito. ***WATCH THE VIDEO *** The goal of the demonstration, which involved about a dozen participants and began at the Casa Esperanza homeless shelter off Milpas Street in Santa Barbara, was to spread awareness about the plight of transients. “You have to come up with creative and new ways to send a message,” said longtime Santa Barbara activist Nancy McCradie, a co-coordinator and one of the walkers. “We want to bring society’s focus back to homeless people. … They live here on our streets, and they need our help.” The walkers carried bullhorns and signs asking for community action. Some rolled along in wheelchairs, wrapping themselves in blankets to keep warm in the cool, foggy weather.
They arrived at the famed talk show host’s home at about 3 p.m. carrying an Easter basket filled with flowers, and a large poster board with scribbled notes from local homeless people and their friends and family.
Some of the notes addressed Ms. Winfrey as “Big O.”
“Give us a reprieve,” one of the notes pleaded. “Please help open the Armory,” it read, referring to a downtwon facility formerly used as an emergency shelter. “The homeless are on the streets every night. Somebody has to do something. Please, please open a place for them to sleep.”
Longtime homeless advocate Bob Hansen -- known by some as "protest Bob" -- said they chose Winfrey’s home because of her notoriety and reputation for helping the less fortunate. He said he is a fan of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and thought she would be responsive.
Neither Winfrey nor her representatives could be reached for comment on Sunday. A pair of men greeted the protesters at the gate to Winfrey's home off East Valley Road and told them they could leave the poster, bouquets and basket.
The walkers followed the oceanfront on Cabrillo Boulevard, then cut across toward the Bird Refuge head onto Jameson Road. They planned to then proceed – in a single-file line -- toward East Valley Road off San Ysidro Road.  Community members wrote notes pleading with Oprah and city leaders to help the homeless. Photo by Melissa Evans.
“Why should they bother Oprah about this?” said a man who identified himself as "Curly." “This is not her problem.”
The walkers had planned Sunday’s event for weeks. Some of them testified at city and county government meetings last week to spread the message.
McCradie said their walk was timely in light of a new report issued by local cities and Santa Barbara County outlining a 10-year plan to end homelessness. The report, called “Bringing Our Community Home,” focused in particular on the chronically homeless -- those who have had at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years or have been continuously homeless for a year.
It is estimated that about 6,300 people each year in the county experience homelessness. The county and local governments spend about $36 million a year on the problem, according to the report.
Hansen and McCradie said they were particularly troubled that several of the shelters that had been open for winter closed on April 1. Spring closures occur annually as warmer weather approaches.
“These people need homes all year round,” Ms. McCradie said.
They weren’t sure if Winfrey was home on Sunday; that wasn’t really the point, McCradie said.
“We want to raise awareness, and I think we accomplished that,” she said.
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