Posts
Shocking
number of Homeless people- Downtown Los Angeles Christmas day
Los
Angeles has an estimate 20,000 homeless people living on the street
mainly in Skid Row. Downtown LA.
Many
have erected tents and tarps to form shelter.
The
area is consired to be one of the most dangerous places in LA.
Amongst
the homeless are women and children.
It's
evident after a drive around that many have mental health problems.
The
area is home to a number of shelters and rescue missions providing
shelter to the lucky few and food.
The
US is ranked as one of the wealthiest nations on Earth but also home
to some of the poorest
California's hidden homeless: Teachers, chefs, nurses and other middle class workers living in cars in parking lots because of the state's crazy property prices
- Hundreds of people are sleeping in parking lots in areas like Santa Barbara
- Rising cost of rent and housing has forced middle class workers to take up residence in their cars to make ends meet
- Most of those sleeping rough in cars are part of the area's Safe Parking program
- It is run by the New Beginnings Counseling Center and aims to provide a secure area for the homeless to sleep in their vehicle
27 December, 2017
The
rising cost of rent and housing in California is forcing residents
into alternative accommodation with middle class workers taking up
residence in their cars and RVs by the side of the road to make ends
meet.
Hundreds
of people, including nurses and chefs, are sleeping in parking lots
in affluent areas like Santa Barbara as they make the most of the
only homes they can afford.
Marva
Ericson, who works as a nursing assistant, has been sleeping in her
Kia for the past three months. She wakes up before dawn each day,
showers at the local YMCA and dresses in her hospital scrubs to head
to work
+Marva
Ericson, who works as a nursing assistant, has been sleeping in her
Kia for the past three months in parking lots around Santa
Barbara, California
'I
wake up and I say, 'Thank you God for keeping me safe last night, and
thank you for the Safe Parking program',' the 48-year-old told the LA
Times.
Like
Ericson, most of the people sleeping rough in their cars are part of
the area's Safe Parking program, which is run by the New
Beginnings Counseling Center and aims to provide a secure area for
the homeless to sleep in their vehicles.
The
program has roughly 150 clients and 40 per cent of those are working
but they just can't afford an apartment with the rising cost of
housing.
About
35 per cent of those in the program are seniors and about 30 per cent
are disabled. The majority are living out of their small cars
with only 25 per cent sleeping in RVs.
+9The
48-year-old wakes up before dawn each day, showers at the local YMCA
and dresses in her hospital scrubs to head to work
+Kathy,
65, and Phil, 74, have been living together in their old RV after
losing their condo in 2013. Kathy said she hung up Christmas lights
inside the RV for the holiday season
Kathy,
65, feeds her aging Standard Poodle in her RV in a parking lot in
Santa Barbara. She says she spent her career working as a paralegal
and was a homeowner until 2013
Ericson
ended up homeless after a series of medical set backs. She suffered a
number of seizures that forced her to quit her job and was eventually
diagnosed with a brain tumor.
She
overcame the illness while caring for her dying mother and is now
working two different jobs to make ends meet. Up until three months
ago, Ericson was living in apartments for $1,000-1,600 a month but
became homeless when she fell behind in rent.
Kathy,
65, and Phil, 74, have been living together in their old RV after
losing their condo in 2013.
'I
was always into December and making the house wonderfully warm and
beautiful,' Kathy said of the holiday season. 'I've got some little
lights on the ceiling of the RV and I got out my mom's old snow
globe, with a music box on it.'
Santiago
Geronimo, who is a chef at a high-end Santa Barbara restaurant, has
been living in a Ford Explorer for three months with his girlfriend
and her eighth-grade son Luis.
The
Safe Parking program, which has been running for 12 years, allows
clients to stay overnight in the parking lots of churches,
not-for-profits and government offices.
Clients
can park their cars after 7pm and need to be gone by the early
morning.
In
Santa Barbara alone, there are 23 parking lots currently used for the
Safe Parking program.
There
is also a waitlist of 40 people desperate to take part.
Kathy, 65, and Phil, 74, live together in this RV along with their aging Standard Poodle
antiago Geronimo works in the kitchen of a high-end Santa Barbara restaurant but sleeps in his Ford Explorer with his girlfriend and her eighth-grade son Luis
Phil, 74, is outside his RV paying for filtered water with quarters for his RV
Marva Ericson, 48, exits a porta potty in a parking lot in the middle of the night in Santa Barbara. She is part of a safe parking program for people living in their vehicles
Why don't they just LEAVE?
ReplyDeleteDump that poorly paying job & the excess high rents & LEAVE, find another job in a more affordable area.
They have valued job skills, why do they stay in a area that has priced them out onto the cold, mean streets? LEAVE!
If they lose enough workers, they will either have to raise wages or landlords will have to lower their rents.