Are You Worried About Becoming Homeless?

If you live in Los Angeles, 1 out of every 3 of you say you are worried… according to a recent Gallup poll. In fact, half of the people in Los Angeles said they have taken in a friend or family member who would have otherwise been homeless.

And we think we are resolving homelessness?

If you live in Los Angeles, you know how incredibly high the price of buying or renting housing is. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand how close people are to becoming homeless. First and last months rent, with a security deposit, is like putting a down payment on a house. It’s expensive.

Since homelessness seems to touch the lives of more and more people in Los Angeles, you would think our society would respond in a bigger way. Affordable housing is clearly one of the most significant solutions to addressing homelessness.

Let’s see if our governments (local, regional, and federal) are willing to invest the kind of resources needed to insure that our citizens are not sleeping on our streets.

Let's WALK to end homelessness!

This Saturday, November 17th, United Way is hosting LA County's first ever walkathon to end homelessness. To support this United Way event, PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) has sponsored two teams to register walkers for FREE! Anyone can register under the PATH Partners Team or the FAITH Matters Team, all we need is your names, T-shirt sizes, and email contact information.

We at PATH believe that since it is the walk’s first year, tangible community support is essential. Moreover, we want to especially encourage faith communities to come out, walk, and show the rest of the city that our faith really does matter!

The HomeWalk starts at Exposition Park, 700 Exposition Park Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90037. We encourage our walkers to come between 7 – 8am to allow enough time for parking, registration, and to beat the crowds. There will be music, coffee and food sold (cash only), and a short program before the walk begins at 9am. Parking will be available for $8/car at 39th & Vermont as well as 39th & Figueroa.

If you email Grace Yi at gracey@epath.org with the above information by tomorrow, Thursday, November 15 at 5pm, we at PATH will register you for the HomeWalk. If you miss our deadline, FREE registration will still be available on-site the day of the event.

Come join us in the HomeWalk, and hopefully you will "walk" away with a greater understanding of homelessness in LA County while finding opportunities to become more involved in preventing and ending the injustice of homelessness.

For a closer look at one of our city's street residents, read LA Times article, Recovery In a Major Key, by Steve Lopez.

A Few Days Rest........................

I'm on vacation for a few days this week... Take care.