Stock Family Trip : Wanting to live in a world where a 9 year old girl can go to the park

Coastal northern California is a beautiful place where nature abounds. We loved watching the sea life and hearing the sea birds squawk and screech. The coastline is relatively unspoiled and largely underpopulated. We loved the flora and fauna of the area.
What caught us off guard, in northern California, was the the magnitude of the homeless problem. Starting in southern Oregon to Eureka, Cailfornia, and probably further down the coastline; homeless camps and the squalor ruined the ambiance in many places. I do not wish to cast aspersions as to why they are there or blame those who fall on hard times. Rather, how can we as a society claim to be rich, or first world, and neglect so many of our citizens at the same time. I realize that a large percentage of the homeless people are on drugs and may choose this life style but many are not. Whether they ended up on the street by their own design or not, they are human beings and we should do better in caring for them.
For the first time in our 3.5 year journey of driving to Argentina and even to Canada, I felt that my daughter was threatened by a grown man. It occurred in Crescent City, California. My 9 year old, Zoe, urgently wanted to go to the playground and work off some energy. She was excited and decided to run ahead of Sierra and I, who chose to hold hands and chat on our way to the park. A scruffy and filthy middle aged man sprung out of the bushes about 15 feet ahead of Zoe and sized her up with his eyes, all the while while he was giggling and murmuring, "Ugh, uh, psst, ooo, hee hee." (You get the picture) Zoe immediately turned around and ran back to me in a panic. He continued to giggle uncontrollably in his intoxication, as we walked by. Problem is, he had three other very high and intoxicated male friends just behind him, on the grass. I bent over and whispered into the girls ears, "If anything should happen, run straight back to the RV and have mommy call 911. Okay?" They both nodded with crystal clarity.
Thankfully nothing happened. But would that still have been the case if Zoe was by herself? The event frightened Zoe and Sierra to their cores. They felt guttural fear on a public beach, on a sunlit afternoon, and near a playground. That should never have happened, but it did, and the lawlessness of these public spaces went from the abstract to the very real, instantly. I wish not to harp on one state or another but truth be told we never even felt such predatory aggression in all of our travels through the Americas, until a beautiful seaside community, in northern California.
I know we should teach our kids to be watchful, but how does that help a child when someone 3 times their size surprises them from the bushes? Shouldn't we punish the predators instead of the prey? Why is such open vagrancy allowed when signs are posted everywhere clearly saying that it is prohibited? Why aren't the homeless better taken care of? We struggle with so many questions? The richest country in the world can do better than we are doing. We have millions of people in need and too many of those are women and children.
We spoke with many locals and most agreed that poverty and vagrancy are big issues. However, most are okay with the status quo because they know where the problem areas are and they avoid them. That's great for them, but what about us, unsuspecting, and innocent tourists? I have seen tremendous things on our journeys and as societies start to fall, they first do so by not caring about their neighbors. Eventually the "haves" wall themselves in from the "have nots" protecting themselves from the ugly world outside.
The world is not ugly out there, our neglect is. We need to take our homeless problem seriously in the U.S. Those that should be incarcerated, should be. Those that need mental health care, should receive it. Those that need a helping hand, should receive it, and then some. We should all remember an old saying, "There too, but for the grace of God, go I."
I know helping the homeless won't remove every predator, but we should all want to live in a world where a 9 years girl can go to the park and play, in peace and innocence.