photo: bbc
First, the news…
L.A. mayor: City is the ‘homeless capital’
By PAUL CHAVEZ
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A report released Thursday that provided new details on the region’s homeless population prompted Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to call the nation’s second-largest city the nation’s “capital of homelessness.”
The report by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority estimated that 82,291 people were homeless in Los Angeles County on any given night in 2005, with about 48,103 of the county’s homeless living within Los Angeles’ city limits.
The estimates mark the first attempt to gather detailed data on the homeless. The figures will provide a benchmark to evaluate the effectiveness of programs to curb homelessness, officials said.
The study also reported that California’s estimated homeless population of 195,367 is the highest in the nation. Forty-six percent of the state’s homeless population is located in Los Angeles County, according to researchers, who determined that one of every 110 people in the county are homeless on any given night. (more…)
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The more I sit down to scan various blogs and commentaries during the week, the more I am becoming disgusted with politics. For many bloggers and members of discussion groups, politics (weather it is the politics of race, class, sex, Washington, etc.) is like a shot of caffeine that we simply cannot live without. Like the game of hopscotch, many of us jump to issue after issue leaving behind our quick 1 minute assessment on an issue that may take years to fully understand and adequately discuss.
Homelessness has been one of those political playing cards that has been shuffled from partisan deck after partisan deck in which all sides of the political spectrum waste precious amounts of time accusing one another of not doing enough to solve this very critical issue. While all of this cyber trash-talking permeates our e-water cooler conversations, there are still thousands of men, women, and children that are living in streets throughout America.
The reason why the article above struck a chord with me is because I just happen to live in the Los Angeles area and can see this problem firsthand. In a city whose politics prides itself on helping the poor and the unfortunate, the reality of this “help” is barely evident–from a political standpoint.
On any given day or night, the streets of Los Angeles are literally teeming with homeless men and women who will do just about anything for a buck. In the very affluent city of Santa Monica (for example–located in Los Angeles county), the homeless have become permanent fixtures throughout the city and on its beaches. Los Angeles is indeed a city of contrasts.
As I was eluding to earlier, from a political standpoint the homeless situation here in the Los Angeles area has evolved in nothing more than a political campaign issue where elected officials may briefly revisit from time to time just long enough to get a few pictures of them feeding the homeless or a couple of video or sound bites of them promising more taxpayer money to already proven failed government institutions designed to address the whole issue.
Beyond the world of politics, there are some people who are addressing this issue.
A “Doer” is not a political party
Below, you will find just a short list (that took me about 1/2 hour to build) of organizations who are in some form or fashion addressing the issue of homelessness. No doubt, these people are not spending their precious time filling up cyberspace with political chatter that mean absolutely nothing to someone living in a box–they are doing something about it.
Central City Community Outreach
Here’s Life Inner City-Los Angeles
Union Rescue Mission (they use a Homeless Currency Card system that is a great alternative to handing out money)
Here is a great story of a man who went from living on skid row to CNN anchor.
From Skid Row to CNN News Anchor: All The Way Up from the Depths of Despair (Part I)
The Incredible Story of Ron Roberson
A very inspiring story indeed!
It is still my hope that the blogosphere will evolve into a place where not only issues are discussed, but where people are motivated to become part of the solution beyond the keyboard.
