Homelessness in Los Angeles
You heard about how Los Angeles is one the main places to visit and it is filled with tons of tourists attractions, but no one talks about what actually happens. We see the faces of desperation on many faces on the streets including men, women, and children displayed for everyone to see. There are over 58,000 people in Los Angeles alone experiencing homelessness which is an 18% increase from 2018.
Causes of Homelessness
- Lack of affordable housing
- poverty
- employment discrimination
- substance abuse/ mental health challenges
- domestic violence
- LGBTQ kids rejected by family
- kids who age out of foster care
- COVID
Research
Currently the county's current homeless population is around 66,000. Which is a 13% increase from 2019. Even with the expensive programs promising housing has little to no effect on the homeless number. The highest concentration of homelessness in Los Angeles is living on skid row. An estimate around 2,000 people are living on skid row. In skid row there's around 40 lost souls living on each city block. This occurred due to the affordable housing crisis, rising unemployment rates, lack of services for the mentally ill, and the deterioration of the social safety net. It was found that African American and Latinos are the "overwhelming" majority of unhoused in this region with around 59% identified as Black and 23% as Latino. African Americans have four more times more likely to experience homelessness due to misrepresentation in Los Angeles community.
Who is Unhoused?
6% Veterans
38% chronically homeless
1% identify as transgender
19% have physical disability
27% substance disorder
7% fleeing intimate partner violence
Why is it important to combat Homelessness?
Photo by: Gary Leonard
Homelessness is an humanitarian emergency. The dominant narrative about who are living among the streets are labeled as drug addicts or severely mental ill, which is not the case. this damaging narrative dehumanizes people experiencing homelessness. This is factually incorrect 70% in the city of the unhoused have neither drug addictions or mental illness. In fact, the largest number of homelessness is from people fleeing from domestic violence or people with chronic medical conditions. Huge numbers of people p[primarily female are fleeing from violence. Especially with more increase in domestic violence leading to more increase in homelessness.
How does it effect us?
Having more people on the streets can pose a threat to public health. Since they are more vulnerable to communicable diseases. When one lives on the streets they're exposed to multiple elements, leading to unsanitary living conditions and outbreaks. It also breaks down community. People start to feel unsafe and no trust with having others on the streets. it impacts the present as well as the future. Being able to end homelessness is not only help from the government, but a collective effort of everyone from all members of society.
Making a Difference!
Homelessness doesn't have to be this way. One was is to combine housing with supportive services such as job training, case management, and healthcare in order to make a real impact. We as a community can join with donors, funders, and public/ private-sector institutions to make a permanent impact. By focusing on the root of homelessness we can help build a better future for everyone to have equal opportunity to contribute to the well being of our community.
References:
rkdgroupdev. (2018, September 6). Homelessness in Los Angeles: “Top Concern.” Los Angeles Mission. https://losangelesmission.org/homelessness-in-los-angeles-top-concern/
Home L.A. Fund: Ending homelessness in Los Angeles. (2020, December 4). California Community Foundation. https://www.calfund.org/homela/
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