From Homeless To Movie Star

Another celebrity is outed.. in terms of revealing that she was formerly homeless. Halle Berry says she was homeless at the age of 21 in Chicago. She lived in a homeless shelter.

Like other celebrities—Jim Carrey, Jewel, Hilary Swank, etc.—Berry becomes another star who experienced the “rags to riches” journey.

Wouldn’t it be great if all of these formerly homeless celebrities would set up a foundation to solve homelessness in America?

(Pic from www.speedace.info)

Not Using 2,500 Federal Rent Vouchers Is Like Losing $750 Million in Affordable Housing

The County Of Los Angeles has not used 2,500 rent vouchers. These vouchers are called “Section 8 vouchers” that basically pays a majority of a person’s rent. Many people who are homeless or are disabled, need rental help in order to get into housing. The federal government (through HUD) pays for these rental assistance vouchers.

And they are ongoing vouchers. So it is actually easier and cheaper for local counties and cities to get Section 8 vouchers in order to help people get off the streets and into existing apartments, than to pay for and build new affordable housing units.

For the County of Los Angeles to not give away these rent vouchers, is similar to keeping 2,500 families or individuals on the streets. On average, an affordable housing unit in Los Angeles (for 1-2 bedroom units) is about $300,000 per unit. That means it would cost the county $750 million to build affordable housing units for 2,500 families or individuals who are homeless.

It’s a big loss… It would be easier to pass out 2,500 rent vouchers (paid for by the federal government) than to pass Proposition H (the $1 billion dollar affordable housing bond).

When Architecture Changes The World (Or At Least The Community)

The National American Institute of Architects is awarding 19 architectural projects from around the country. They are this year’s 2007 AIA Housing Awards.

One of the honored projects is the PATH Mall, designed by local architect Jeffrey Kalban & Associates.

Here is what the architectural jury said:

This project was a major renovation of an abandoned 1960s three-story office building that was originally built for a liquor company, to a multifaceted 40,000-square-foot regional Homeless Center. A major programmatic and design objective was to create a first-floor “mall” of services containing 19 different service organizations and agencies to assist the homeless in transitioning back to mainstream society.

The residential areas, located on the second and third floors separate men and women by floor and contain individual roomette sleeping areas or transitional housing in separate rooms with kitchen and dining areas. Vibrant colors and playful uplifting forms were used to create a facility that evokes a positive, non-institutional image and deliver a sense of hope and possibility to its users. “This is an amazing transformation of a fairly brutal building, which enhances its environment and makes it a welcome addition to the neighborhood,” noted the jury.

ACLU Accuses L.A. Of Developing A Police State On Skid Row

The executive director of the ACLU of Southern California, Ramona Ripston, writes in an op-ed piece today how the LAPD has turned downtown into a police state.

She writes:

“THE LOS ANGELES Police Department has a message for skid row residents: The 4th Amendment doesn't apply here. That's the constitutional protection from arbitrary searches, and L.A. police officers have been violating it since late last year by detaining, handcuffing and going through people's pockets and possessions on the slimmest pretenses.

“City leaders promised that the new officers would be part of a strategy to solve the homeless problem that included housing and services. Instead, the city has done exactly what everyone said it should not do: send police out as its primary tool. We're seeing the inevitable result. “We've been here before. Twenty years ago, the city and civil rights groups agreed that police were going too far on skid row by trashing residents' belongings in twice-daily sweeps.

"It would appear that we have miraculously solved the horrible problem of destitute homelessness in our community by simply declaring it illegal," actor Martin Sheen wrote in The Times that year.

“Since then, we've been caught in a disturbing cycle, with police abusing their power and then being challenged in court, only to either back down or be nudged into compliance by the courts.”

Has Skid Row become a police state? I think the term “police state” to refer to Skid Row is probably being used to attract attention. With crime in downtown being so concentrated, it is appropriate for LAPD to also concentrate its law enforcement resources.

However, not at the expense of harassing innocent people who are homeless. Our city needs a BALANCED APPROACH of both law enforcement and compassionate services and housing for the homeless.

For every dollar that the city invests in law enforcement in downtown, they should also invest in additional services and housing.

(Pic from www.police-state.net)