Christine Hauser
Our weekly series putting faces on San Diego's homeless
Behind a brightly colored, overgrown bougainvillea bush in Linda Vista hides the modest home of Christine Hauser. She’s lived in the house for more than 20 years, but this week she’s getting kicked out—evicted for defaulting on her loans.
Hauser’s known the foreclosure was coming for some time, she explains, as she leads me through her house stacked to the ceiling with boxes and possessions she’ll likely lose in the shuffle, but, she says, she believes she’s done everything she could. When the police come knocking May 1, she’ll have no choice but to go. As of yet, she hasn’t found a place to live.
“I still haven’t figured out exactly what I’m going to do,” says Hauser, who’s managed to collect $275 from friends, which she’ll use to help pay for the storage space she rented for the few things she can’t bear to leave behind.
People who know Hauser call her “Tie-Dye Chris” or simply “The Tie-Dye Lady,” because her main source of income comes from the tie-dyed shirts, dresses, kids’ clothes and even underwear she creates and sells at craft shows and bazaars. Her regular vendor spot is at the Seaside Bazaar in Encinitas on Saturdays and Sundays, but she travels to bigger craft shows across the country when she can.
It was one of these bigger shows, in fact—the Kenny King RV show—that Hauser partly blames for her financial woes. She spent $400 for a spot and stocked up on tie-dye products, expecting to sell more than she’d ever sold before.
“I thought it’d be my salvation,” she says, looking down in noticeable embarrassment, “but it wasn’t.”
That financial hit, combined with generally poor sales during the previous few summers and an accident a few years earlier—she was hit by a car, leaving her with chronic back and knee problems and prohibiting her from working for a time—made the downward spiral more like a high-powered vortex that sucked up her savings.
Finding a cheap new place to live would be easier for some, but Hauser has 23 cats—yes, 23—and she refuses to abandon them. She rescues cats and, because she’s somewhat of a softy, she ends up keeping them.
“I look in their little eyes, and promised that I wouldn’t leave them,” she says, “and I’m just such a cat person—there just has to be a way to get through all this.”
Want to help? Write kinseem@sdcitybeat.com.
Published: 04/29/2008
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Kinsee,
Thank you for your beautiful story about a lovely woman who rescues cats and has compassion for all God's critters.
I did send her a donation and teamed up with one of her other friends from the Internet to help spread the word about Christine Hauser's need for help with housing for herself and the cats she has rescued.
Chris is a dedicated crafts creator making a difference in the lives of animals who have no homes and no voice. Since I love animals and cats have been a great comfor in my own life I will continue to ask those who can help to contact you at City Beat. They can also contact me at the PeaceClinic, thepeaceclinic@gmail.com or the website, http://www.thepeaceclinic.org and I will pray for her financial recovery and a new home somewhere in San Diego County so she can continue to create and sell all those fantastic tye-dye, '60's retro T-shirts and other lovely things to remind us of when life was more fun.
As a peace teacher I try to remind people of the cosmic need for more compassion. The world is so poluted with negativity that we all need to show appreciation for the simple act of kindness it takes for a person like Chris who rescues and shelters lost and abused animals. She is a peace teacher by example. I think her story should go to classroom teachers all over the country. How can we do that.
Kinsee, thank you for all you do for our town and for those who just need a little help from some friends. Hey, "love is all we need." You are my "person of the week'" and I would love to get a call or email from you.
Also, thanks to anyone reading this message at City Beat and can or have already helped support Chritine Hauser over a speed bump in her life. She is worth it. Compassion is worth it.
Peace,
Chloe J. Freeland
Founder/Director
The PeaceClinic Institute
Oceanside, CA
Hey -- I am willing to throw down a $40 bucks or so to keep the tie-dye lady from hitting the skids. If she sends me a tie-dye wife beater in the mail in return, that would be even better. Regardless, I definitely wanna help.