February 16, 2022

Local Pastor Tells UCI Students to “Chip In” Involving the Homeless Population

Pastor, writer, and scholar Father Dennis Kriz, who advocates for Orange County's homeless population, spoke to a UCI Literary Journalism class last week about his change in passions from Chemistry to Theology and how it's been the most fulfilling part of his life to help those in need. 

Kriz originally received his doctorate in Chemistry from USC, but during his graduate program, he began to wrestle with changes in his life. One of the significant factors that steered him away from chemistry was his mother's passing from cancer during the pursuit of his degree. 

After this, his viewpoint on what truly mattered in life shifted. He was involved in a retiring symposium thrown for a scholar in the field, and it was then that Kriz saw no reward in pursuing Chemistry. 

"This is the best that I could hope for, that maybe 40 years from now, a group of my former students would be organizing this for me. There may be 20 people there who knew what this guy's work was and was important and so forth. And I just found that that was just a terrible way to do my life", said Father Kriz. 

Kriz graduated in the spring of 92, worked for one year, then spent the next seven back in college pursuing his theology degree, finally graduating at 35. 

After being ordained in 1999, Kriz served his Church and community, including the homeless in Fullerton. 

Stationed at Saint Philip Benizi Catholic Church in 2016, he allowed homeless members to take shelter on the property. The backlash started to bubble up about his small program, but in the end, everyone who initially objected agreed that it would be unjust to send them away with nowhere to go. 

"The folks who say listen, you got to do something, and I say look, and everybody actually agreed with that position of saying, look, if we're going to send them away, yeah, we got to know where they're going to go," said Father Kriz. 

September 4, 2018, the United States Ninth Circuit Martin v. City of Boise case was decided upon: Enforcement of ordinances against homeless individuals that prohibit sleeping on public property is unconstitutional when those individuals do not have a meaningful alternative to camp. 

The new law allowed Kriz to feel confident about the safety of homeless individuals who, in 2019, were asked to leave the church property.

The court ruling enlisted police backlash, who now confiscated their belongings when left unattended instead of arresting homeless individuals. 

Due to this, Father Kriz worked with Saint Philip Benizi to provide storage methods, like a sizable pooled storage container and smaller private tubs, for individuals who left the church ground.

"We rented, and it was actually fairly cheap, a big storage unit you know that you put on a truck, right? Or whatever. It was like a 40-foot long unit that costs $148 plus $140 a month to rent", said Father Kriz. 

Later the Illumination Foundation, an Orange County non-profit that helps individuals with no permanent abode, created a safe parking program for homeless individuals to stay overnight in their vehicles.

"We got in contact with the Illumination Foundation… and the Illumination Foundation immediately had said yes to this… and allow them to run a safe parking program on our property", said Father Kriz. 

Kriz switched from having a life dedicated to science to being a vessel of change for those less fortunate in his Fullerton community. 

During Kritz's talk, a student asked how the everyday person could help. He challenged the students to do anything. "Come out, and do speak at the city council meetings or whatever. Say yeah, I want something done about this. But we all have to chip in", said Father Kriz.