10,770 Empty FEMA Trailers… What’s Wrong With This Picture?

Hmm… thousands of homeless people are floundering on the streets of America. 90,000 in L.A.’s own backyard (and front yard).

Yet, FEMA has nearly 11,000 empty trailer homes sitting in Arkansas supposedly intended for Katrina survivors. They are all brand new, and filled with furniture. They were purchased, transported, and now maintained, yet no one living in them. Estimated cost: $431 million.

And here in L.A. we have a shortage of emergency shelters and permanent housing for people living on our streets.

This picture of reality is completely warped. Our federal government can spend nearly a half a Billion dollars on empty housing, yet is unable to “connect the dots” by either using them for Katrina survivors, or for people homeless on our streets.

This is completely immoral…

How To Increase Homelessness?Make Housing Less Affordable

Looks like less and less people are able to afford buying the American Dream.

The California Association of Realtors announced that 1% fewer people in Los Angeles can afford a home, compared to the same time last year. The median home price in L.A. in December was $552,760. The same time a year ago, the price was $463,450. Here's the article.

Only 12% of L.A. households can afford to buy a home. Looks like L.A. is the land of renters.

And the reality of all these facts is that as housing costs go up—for both rentals and ownership—the risk of homelessness rises also.

I Wonder How Much Clooney Gave Him?

The entertainment media is highlighting actor George Clooney’s “donation” to a homeless man on the streets of London.

Clooney went out to eat at a posh London restaurant, and was walking back to his hotel (with his security team) when he encountered a homeless man. Clooney handed the homeless man “a wad of bank notes” and then left.

Interesting way to gain PR attention. I wonder if Clooney would be willing to do more than toss a wad of cash to a homeless person on the street. Perhaps loan his name in support of a homeless agency.

Well, at least it is better than a couple of other stars (albeit, has-been stars) who were caught buying drugs near downtown Skid Row…

Homeless Beatings By America’s Teens: Are They Flukes or A Trend?

The Miami Herald lists 2005 cases of teens beating up (or killing) homeless people. It has occurred in states all over the country.

The questions are many: Where are these teens getting their values? Why is human dignity not a part of these values? Why would they hurt people who are struggling on the streets? Is this a sick trend in our country?

Here is the report:

Berkeley, Calif.: In February, police said, two 18-year-olds in hooded sweat shirts beat a homeless woman to death with their fists.

Portland, Maine: In March, a teen was charged with stabbing a homeless man in the throat.

St. Paul, Minn.: Police said that in June, two teenagers robbed and beat a homeless man, who died 11 days later.

Los Angeles, Calif.: In August, police said two Los Angeles 19-year-olds routinely roamed downtown streets hitting sleeping homeless people with baseball bats. The teens told officers they were inspired by the Bumfights video series that depicts the homeless beating on each other for pay from the video makers.

Fairfield, Calif.: Three teens -- ages 17, 18, and 19 -- were charged with beating and stomping a 47-year-old homeless man, who was left blind and brain-damaged. The teens have pleaded not guilty.

Boston, Mass.: Prosecutors allege two teens, 15 and 17, punched a homeless man, an injury that led to his death. Both have been indicted for manslaughter and are charged as adults.

Who's On First?

Political cartoonist, Mike Lester's, take on anti-panhandling laws...

L.A. Mayor Wants Changes For LAHSA

The Daily News reports today that Mayor Villaraigosa is calling on "management changes" at the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

At his monthly “Ask The Mayor” radio show, he stated, “I think we're going to have to make some very serious changes to this authority. That's why I appointed a whole new set of directors - to get a new group of leaders in here and to put on people who will ferret out the mismanagement."

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky also called on changes to LAHSA last week.

When the County and City of Los Angeles both agree on something as political as this, you can assume changes will be made.

Is The “Meanest City” List A Form of Blackmail?

There is an interesting opinion piece in yesterday’s Santa Monica Daily Press on the “Meanest City” list that was announced last month.

The National Coalition For The Homeless (NCH) and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty publish an annual list that accuses cities across the country of being “mean” to their homeless. Santa Monica was listed as the ninth meanest city in America, and Los Angeles was named the 18th meanest.

The piece states that the NCH Director told officials from Sarasota, Florida that if they didn’t drop a proposed anti-camping ordinance, that the city would be listed as the Number 1 “meanest” city in America. I guess the city officials were not intimidated, because they made the top billing.

So is it appropriate for these national homeless advocacy organizations to use this list as a way of “forcing” cities to stop passing anti-camping ordinances?

Again, I believe that this listing is only relevant if it also includes the positive actions cities are doing for the homeless. If a city is investing millions of dollars to house and serve their homeless population, but also have ordinances that prevent people from sleeping on the streets, they should not be considered a “mean” city. If anything, they should be considered “responsible.”

Cities that do nothing—no services, no investment, and no ordinances—are the irresponsible municipalities. Not the cities that are desperately trying to find solutions to homelessness.

Media Follow Up On LAHSA

I talked with an L.A. Times reporter today about the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA.) Looks like there might be a follow-up article regarding LAHSA. This reporter also went on the New York City trip with the downtown leaders. (We had a quick discussion about that, as well.)

She asked me what I thought about the LAHSA structure, and whether the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) is a good model for LAHSA. Here were some of my comments:

> The fact that the County of Los Angeles and the City of Los Angeles have 50/50 control over LAHSA is good. We need both the city and the county to have mutual investment and input in homelessness.

> The MTA is a good structure because elected officials participate directly in the authority’s governing structure. However, dealing with traffic is different than dealing with homelessness. With homelessness, we need the whole community involved—corporations, foundations, and faith community. These communities need to integrate their homeless investment dollars with the governments investment dollars so that the whole system is working together. The best way to do that is by having these communities represented on the LAHSA governing board. (I would guess that private dollars toward homeless services in L.A. County match public dollars.)

> It’s not fair for LAHSA to expect to have the full burden of reducing homelessness when they don’t “control” or have any “influence” over other programs/resources that deal with homelessness—i.e., mental health programs, substance abuse programs, housing programs, and anti-poverty programs. Unless the County and City give LAHSA “influence” in these programs, it is not fair to expect them to be fully responsible for the reduction of homelessness.

San Antonio Homeless Agency CEO Visits PATH Mall

I had the pleasure to meet with Bob Martindale and his wife this past Saturday at the PATH Mall, here in Los Angeles.

Bob is the CEO of SAM Ministries, the leading homeless service provider in San Antonio, Texas. He also sits on the Texas Interagency Council for the Homeless (TICH) and the Texas Homeless Network (THN).

Their programs are very similar to PATH’s, with a full continuum of care. Here is a link to their website.

It is reported that San Antonio, Texas has over 25,000 homeless people. 38% are homeless families.

SAM Ministries is interested in joining with PATH and numerous other groups around the country to develop “The Mall Network,” a network of groups who operate or support the concept of “one-stop” service centers.

Homeless Man Dies Near Super Bowl

A few blocks away from Ford Field, Detroit Police Department officers discovered a homeless man stabbed to death. The Steelers and Seahawks will be playing today in the Super Bowl just blocks away from this location. Here's an article.

I’m sure the thousands of fans trekking to the game will have no idea what happened.

Interesting that advocates and officials were earlier worried that homeless people would be falsely arrested or swept away. Instead of false arrests, the people living near Ford Field were more at risk of being stabbed by criminals than being roughed up by the police.

I think communities get so caught up in the “rights” of homeless people, and the “rights” of the community, that we forget that allowing people to sleep on the streets is just wrong. Every night, people on the streets risk their lives because of violence and terrible health conditions.