Issue: Homelessness in the City of Angels
Homelessness is one of the biggest social issues that impacts a variety of individuals throughout the United States.Of the major cities in the U.S., Los Angeles has a total homeless population of about 44,000 people, the second largest homeless population in the United States. According to a 2016 study done by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Los Angeles had about 13,000 chronically homeless individuals, the highest population of “chronically homeless” people in the United States. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines chronic homelessness as “an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition or a family with at least one adult member who has a disabling condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more OR has had at least four (4) or more episodes of homelessness in the past three (3) years”. Apart from dealing with housing issues, homeless people are more at risk of being criminalized by police, less likely to be educated, have more health related issues, and find it harder to find work. The criminalization of homeless people in Los Angeles has been a continuous problem for many individuals. Furthermore, in 2016, Los Angeles also lead the nation for the most unaccompanied homeless youth, more than 3,000.
Many people have a stereotypical perception of what a homeless person is or looks like, but fail to understand that homelessness is not something that can always be identified by judging someone based on their appearance. For example, a 2015 study commissioned by California State University Chancellor Timothy White showed that one in ten California State University students was homeless. We may not be aware that many people that we encounter in our everyday lives, such as students, a family at a park, grocery store clerks, waiters, parking attendants, cooks, mechanics, bartenders, and a variety of other people may be struggling with being homeless. Going through an unfortunate event and becoming homeless can easily happen to anyone at the blink of an eye. It is important to understand that stereotyping someone based on their appearance leads to people ignoring the issue at hand. It creates a division among people by creating misconceptions of who can and cannot become homeless.
Highland Park Community Members:
References:
Many people have a stereotypical perception of what a homeless person is or looks like, but fail to understand that homelessness is not something that can always be identified by judging someone based on their appearance. For example, a 2015 study commissioned by California State University Chancellor Timothy White showed that one in ten California State University students was homeless. We may not be aware that many people that we encounter in our everyday lives, such as students, a family at a park, grocery store clerks, waiters, parking attendants, cooks, mechanics, bartenders, and a variety of other people may be struggling with being homeless. Going through an unfortunate event and becoming homeless can easily happen to anyone at the blink of an eye. It is important to understand that stereotyping someone based on their appearance leads to people ignoring the issue at hand. It creates a division among people by creating misconceptions of who can and cannot become homeless.
Personal:
As a child, I would often travel around Los Angeles on the public bus with my grandmother. The people, architecture, and the movement in the city intrigued me and motivated me to want to get to know the city landscape away from my home in Highland Park. Although I was raised by two loving parents, they were always working, and therefore, spent a lot of my time as teen wandering the streets on my own. At about the age of fifteen, I began to skateboard and exploring areas such as Downtown Los Angeles, Korea Town, Mac Arthur Park, and the Mid-Wilshire District. Many of the people that I encountered and genuinely felt comfortable talking to during my skateboarding trips were homeless people that seemed happy to share their stories with me. I enjoyed hearing about different peoples experiences, and felt a connection with them because I was always on the street. Although I wasn't homeless, I understood many people didn't choose to live this lifestyle ,and that myself or someone that I knew could easily go through a life changing experience that could leave them in the same position.
As a child, I would often travel around Los Angeles on the public bus with my grandmother. The people, architecture, and the movement in the city intrigued me and motivated me to want to get to know the city landscape away from my home in Highland Park. Although I was raised by two loving parents, they were always working, and therefore, spent a lot of my time as teen wandering the streets on my own. At about the age of fifteen, I began to skateboard and exploring areas such as Downtown Los Angeles, Korea Town, Mac Arthur Park, and the Mid-Wilshire District. Many of the people that I encountered and genuinely felt comfortable talking to during my skateboarding trips were homeless people that seemed happy to share their stories with me. I enjoyed hearing about different peoples experiences, and felt a connection with them because I was always on the street. Although I wasn't homeless, I understood many people didn't choose to live this lifestyle ,and that myself or someone that I knew could easily go through a life changing experience that could leave them in the same position.
As I got older, I started seeing more homeless people in my community. Why was the homeless population increasing and what was going to be done about? After doing some research, I found that rising rent prices, gentrification, unlawful evictions and foreclosures, and the lack of affordable housing were some of the main reasons that caused homeless to increase in Highland Park and neighboring communities. In order to help combat the issue of homelessness in my community, I began to volunteer at a local church that would feed, shelter, and attempt to find permanent housing for homeless people. It felt great to be a part of the solution, but it also hurt knowing that most of the individuals that would seek help from the church/shelter were longtime residents of Highland Park. Although I haven't volunteered for quite sometime, I feel that this project is going to help shed more light about homelessness in Los Angeles. By creating this blog and communicating the issues of homelessness with the members of my community, I'm hoping that it motivates others to produce positive changes that will help reduce the homeless population. Lastly, I hope that this project will also help change the stereotypes that are associated with homeless populations.
Highland Park Community Members:
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| Lamo Sanchez |
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| Peter Jones |
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| Mark Montoya "I didn't know there were so many people who are homeless in the CSU system. Being homeless and a student is a struggle people shouldn't have to face" |
References:
www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/MH/Documents/2015_HopeForTheHomeless.pdf
Guerrero, Erick G., et al. "Service Integration to Reduce Homelessness in Los Angeles County: Multiple Stakeholder perspectives. " Human Service Organizations: Mangaement, Leadership &Governance, vol. 38, no.1, Jan-Mar2014, pp. 44-54, EBSCOhost.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-cal-state-homelessness-20160620-snap-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-chronically-homeless-20161116-story.html
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