Oscar Olmos works at the Homeless Garden Project on the western edge of Santa Cruz, where about 20 men and women are learning horticulture.

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THE WISH: BUS PASSES, WHEELBARROWS, SEEDER, CLIPPERS, TILLER REPAIR

Back to the land and self-respect

kim Trunk chains his bicycle to his leg when he sleeps outdoors at night in Santa Cruz. He's had too many bikes stolen over the years to take any more chances. He can't get by without one.

Before cycling to work each morning, the lanky, 53-year-old veteran makes a 15-minute bike trip to the methadone clinic, trying to kick a longtime heroin addiction that dates to the Vietnam War.

Then he cycles to the homeless shelter, where he waits in line for a shower, and maybe gets some breakfast. He stashes his three bags of clothes in some bushes, then cycles half an hour to work at the Homeless Garden Project on the western edge of Santa Cruz. By 9 a.m., he's digging in the fields for minimum wage, helping to grow organic produce to sell to the community.

``He always makes it to work on time,'' says Patrick Williams, a horticulturist who trains Kim and some two dozen other homeless men and women in the skills of farming. They grow strawberries, potatoes, leeks, carrots, spinach, corn and flowers, whatever is seasonal. Some of the women dry and sell the flowers, beautifully arranged, at a shop near downtown Santa Cruz. The project helps people get other jobs, find housing and regain the self-respect they need to pull their lives together.

Bus passes ($39 per month, per pass) (15A) would help out many of these trainees who struggle daily just to get to work. Many camp on the outskirts of town and walk or ride their bikes to work. With a bus pass, they could strap their bikes to the front of the bus and ride to work when it rains.

The project also is in need of wheelbarrows ($74 each) (15B), a seeder ($160) (15C) and hand clippers ($19 per pair) (15D). Service for the garden's hard-working tiller would cost $110 (15E); even better would be a new one ($1,600) (15F).