Poignant Cartoon Reveals Reality of Thanksgiving on Skid Row

The LA Downtown News published this cartoon called, “Urban Scrawl.” It’s an indictment on how our society deals with the poor on holidays…

L.A. County Supervisors—Not Surprisingly—Approve Receiving Mental Health Dollars

Recently, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved receiving $280 million over the next three years to beef up the county’s mental health system. Here's the article.

These funds are a result of Proposition 63, where an extra tax on millionaires will be used to fund this Mental Health Services Act. Of course, it is no surprise that the county would vote to receive these funds.

A quote from the Department of Mental Health’s director clearly links some of these funds to helping the homeless:

"If we do this right, it should make a significant, positive impact on turning this situation around," said Marvin Southard, director of the county Mental Health Department. "In five years, I would expect that Skid Row would look different as a result of what we are doing and we would have many more residential facilities than we have now for people with severe mental illnesses."

The key statement… “If we do this right…”

And that is a big “IF”.

Will these funds be simply poured into a bureaucratic system that has allowed homelessness to increase in L.A. County from 25,000 in 1985 to 91,000 today?

Or will these funds be used to proactively and systematically reduce the number of people living on our streets?

The system they are using to spend these funds is the same selection and spending process they have already used for years.

Nevertheless, I hope they will choose creative and strategic projects that are accountable to the dollars, and used to numerically reduce the numbers of homeless people.

Let’s see what happens…

L.A.’s Skid Row: A Toxic Playground

Here is the report by the United Coalition East Prevention Project that surveyed the children in downtown L.A.’s Skid Row (or Central City East.) Here is the PDF file for this study.

It describes an Orwellian environment for children who are caught in the trap of homelessness—through no fault of their own.

Here are some findings:

• The percentage of the skid row population that are children increased from 1% in 1990 to 15% in 2000.

• Half of children surveyed witnessed a death while living on skid row.

• 1 in 5 children living on skid row are not enrolled in school.

• 71% of children have lived on skid row for one year or more.

• 71% of children surveyed have never tried drugs, while 29% have tried them.

Children in Skid Row are a blatant example of criminal neglect in our society. We can’t accuse them of being lazy; that they should just get a job; that they are drug addicts; that they deserve their homeless plight. It’s just not accurate.

Through no fault of their own, they are living in an environment of neglect.

When will our community mobilize its resources and creativity to end this? I don’t mean just writing a check. I mean developing a strategic crisis plan, to save these children now.

When will our community pass an ordinance that would ban our society from allowing children to live on our streets?

This Week Is National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week

Every year, the week before Thanksgiving is highlighted to emphasize the need to address hunger and homelessness in America. Both the National Coalition For The Homeless and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness co-sponsor this week. Here's info on this week.

Schools, community groups, nonprofits, and local cities across the country host events that address hunger and homelessness. This has become a great way to mobilize local community efforts.

Here are my two insights on this annual mobilization effort:

First, it is amazing the amount of resources our country uses—financial, human effort, creativity, mobilization efforts, etc.—to battle homelessness. And yet the numbers of people on our streets continue to grow. I’m haunted by the fact that in the last twenty years in Los Angeles County the number of homeless people grew from 25,000 to 91,000.

All these efforts are terrific. Yet, on a local level we still lack the visionary and organizational leadership to garner all of these resources and put together a strategic, organized, effective effort to start reducing the number of people on our streets.

Second, it is clear that ending homelessness is a local effort. That is why this week’s mobilization efforts are important. Only local community members—law enforcement, faith groups, political officials, businesses, community groups—know how many people are sleeping in their local parks.

If we can mobilize these local community members to help the homeless in their local neighborhoods, we can tackle this giant problem of homelessness, one community at a time. That is why we are advocating Project Y!MBY efforts in local communities. Here's info on Project Y!MBY.

91,000 is too big of a number to really comprehend solutions. We need to tackle this societal problem on a local community level. It is much more manageable and reachable.

Our dialogue on the “Absurdity of Homelessness in America” tomorrow night at Dutton’s Bookstore in Beverly Hills is one of the events linked to the National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.

No Child Left On The Streets!

What civilized, first-world, wealthy country in this world would allow its children to live on its streets of a dangerous urban neighborhood? It just doesn’t make sense that the second largest city in America—Los Angeles—would allow children to be homeless in downtown Skid Row.

Yet, a report by the United Coalition East Prevention Project recently released numbers showing that 700 children are living in welfare motels or on the streets of Central City East. With the dangers of crime linked to prostitution, drugs, and violence in that area, it doesn’t make sense to allow the most vulnerable of our population—children—to live there. Here is an article about the study. Here's another article.

We certainly can do something. If our country can house hundreds of thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims in a matter of days, we certainly can take 700 young children off the streets of Skid Row. I wrote a chapter in my book called, “Hunting For Good Will.” There should certainly be political and community will to do something about this.

I propose this...

That the city and county of Los Angeles pass an ordinance that would give every child in Los Angeles the right to a safe and secure bed—away from crime, victimization, and hunger.

What city councilmember or county supervisor would vote against such an ordinance? Who cares if we don’t have the facilities to house them now? If we were able to find enough housing for hurricane victims, we should be able to find enough housing for 700 children.

Let the churches, synagogues, YMCA’s, nonprofit groups, and political offices find enough space for these children. Let both public and private dollars fund places for these children.

Let’s pass a community ordinance… No Child Left On The Streets of L.A.

The Seats Are Filling Up: A Dialogue on the Absurdity of Homelessness

Another update…

During the week of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, we are putting on a dialogue on the subject of homelessness and a book signing of my book.

There will be a panel that includes The Honorable Richard Bloom (Santa Monica City Councilmember), Grace R. Dyrness, Director of Community Research & Development at USC, and Leepi Shimkhada, Lead Organizer for the L.A. Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness. I will be moderating the discussion.

The discussion will be on how mental health contributes to homelessness and on the current homeless “dumping” debate.

The free event will occur on Thursday, November 17, 2005 at 7:00 pm.


It will be at the Dutton’s Book Store on 447 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210.


Mark your calendars if you are in the area!

RSVP with Jennifer at (310) 644-2209.

Will Affordable Housing Afford Housing For The Homeless?

The Martini Republic blog writes today about recently elected L.A. Councilmember Jose Huizar’s views on affordable housing. Here's the blog article. Councilmember Huizar won Mayor Villaraigosa’s council seat, and was asked about his view on affordable housing. Especially after the Mayor announced a one billion dollar affordable housing bond.

Here’s what the blog said:
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What precisely is “affordable housing”? Usually, in a debate, when “affordable housing” came up, the candidates in the district, Jose Huizar too, began talking about the disenfranchised. But when we asked him about a real definition, Huizar, in a surprisingly candid moment, agreed that “we need to redefine what affordable housing is.” He spoke of expanding the City’s Affordable Housing Bond, and perhaps extending it to service personnel: firefighters, police officers, teachers, city clerical workers.

As it happens, these are all unionized para-government professions that haven’t previously required a boost when reaching out for a piece of the American dream. They’re a class of people who feel both like housing is out of reach. And they’re the very people who won the day the in Arnold’s ill-fated special election last Tuesday. They’re organized, tanned, fit, and ready-to-go. They’re ready to become affordable housing’s first—maybe only—near-term beneficiaries.
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So when the debate begins to pass a one billion dollar housing bond, the big question of the day will be… How much of this money will go toward housing the “no income” people in our community (particularly the homeless), and how much will house the “low income”?

Stay tuned for this debate to begin…