By Jamie Rogers
DAILY BREEZE

It is easy to write off the homeless. It is easy to blame drugs, or alcohol or mental illness — unless that person is a loved one. 

Sheila Cunha-Vaughn of Bakersfield said she didn't know what to blame when she learned her sister, who was described by authorities as homeless, was found dead in the Dominguez Channel in Carson on Jan. 16.

What she did know was that 47-year-old Pamela Gayle Cunha was more than just some homeless woman with a disposable life.

“She worked so hard. She touched everyone in her life somehow,” Cunha-Vaughn said. “She was a wonderful person with a wonderful heart but she had some problems, just like me and you, she had some problems.”

Cunha, who lived most of her life in Gardena, was staying with friends at the time of her death, battling manic depression, alcoholism and drug abuse. Cunha frequented Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in Carson for more than a year, but even there she was unable to overcome her problems.

Oliver Johnson, a counselor at the Palm House recovery center where Cunha attended AA meetings, said alcoholism and drug abuse in women often stem from traumatic childhood events.

“As far as females, there are many factors concerning alcohol and drug abuse,” Johnson said. “Sometime it is from child abuse, sometimes neglect, sometimes peer pressure.”

Cunha's problems began when she was 17 years old and her father died after a long illness, Cunha-Vaughn said.

“She was going through her teen-age years when my dad died, just being a teen-ager,” she said. “I don't think she ever forgave herself for that.”

Cunha was treated throughout her life for manic depression but was afraid to take her medication so treatment was never successful, her sister said. In 1977 she became mixed up with a group of people who were heavy PCP and cocaine users. She began using drugs herself, and that is when things took a dramatic turn, Cunha-Vaughn said.

“She just did the drugs to put a Band-Aid on her problems and it turned into cancer,” she said.

In 1990, Cunha gave birth to her second daughter and moved in with Cunha-Vaughn. For two years she was stable and held a job, eventually getting her own apartment.

“She lived a normal life,” Cunha-Vaughn said. “But it always fell apart and I don't know why.”

Johnson said it is important for family members of addicts to avoid the cycle of co-dependence by understanding the disease. He recommended attending groups such as Al-Anon to learn how to deal with guilt, frustration and fear that family members of alcoholics and drug addicts often deal with. Cunha-Vaughn said she has been dealing with those feelings her entire adult life.

“It is so hard because every day you wait for that phone to ring with bad news,” she said. “Even though I always waited for that phone call I never thought she would die because she always pulled through. I never gave up on her, never lost hope.”

Police are still looking into the cause of Cunha's death. According to Cunha-Vaughn, she may have slipped or it may have been intentional. Cunha-Vaughn said she plans to visit the site to put the pieces together and find closure. More importantly, she said she wants to tell people about Cunha's life.

“I just want to give her some dignity,” Cunha-Vaughn said. “She was a great friend and a loving sister. . . . If telling her story will make one pinhead that is on alcohol or drugs think of their lives and what happens to their family when they are gone, then she will have died for a reason.”