Be A Voice for the Voiceless on the Issue of Homelessness

Downtown Los Angeles News — Letters to the Editor Spotlight

Roughly 11.18% of the people living in Downtown Los Angeles are experiencing homelessness, according to the Neighborhood Data for Social Change.

When compared to the city of Los Angeles, where the rate is about 0.82%, the severity of the issue of homelessness within the Downtown Los Angeles community becomes clear. The devastating impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the mental health and financial stability for vulnerable people makes it reasonable to assume that this issue will continue to get worse.

Although a historic legislation effort has been signed to combat homelessness, it will take time before the plans take effect and people get access to these resources. Every day that passes risks greater harm for those who remain on the streets.

The cumulative impact of homelessness stretches far beyond the problems associated with simply lacking shelter, according to the CDC. People experiencing homelessness are at greater risk of alcohol and drug abuse, mental illness, HIV infection and a host of other conditions.

I’ve seen with my own eyes how homelessness leads to further detrimental harm on one’s overall well-being while working in a skilled nursing facility for people with severe mental illness. One of my clients became homeless after her symptoms from schizophrenia made it impossible to maintain employment. Once she began living on the street, things quickly took a turn for the worse. A few members of her homeless encampment began forcibly injecting her with heroin, eventually fostering an addiction to maintain control over her and use her for prostitution.

Now she struggles from addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder in addition to schizophrenia and homelessness. Had she never experienced homelessness her road to recovery would be much less challenging, because she would not need to simultaneously recover from addiction and PTSD as well. This story is one of many, and it demonstrates how quickly one’s life can spiral downward once they lose access to safe shelter.

Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed the largest legislative effort in California’s history to address the state’s homeless crisis and strengthen mental health services. This is a huge step in the right direction, but one bill was left out that would offer immediate relief: AB-1372 Right to Temporary Shelter. Right to Temporary Shelter is a bill that proposes offering temporary shelter, mental health treatment, job training and resources for finding work to every person experiencing homelessness.

People cannot wait months, or potentially years, for Newsom’s legislative efforts to roll out relief. They need immediate aid. Providing the services from Right to Temporary Shelter will increase people’s quality of life now and make recovery less complicated by preventing any further regression from the accumulative effects of homelessness.

Although Right to Temporary Shelter does a lot of things right, it is not perfect. The major issue it has is that to qualify, a person needs to seek temporary housing for at least three consecutive days. This stipulation creates a barrier to entry that would prevent many people from getting help. Also, lots of people, homeless or not, are unaware of the resources that are available to help them, and even if they do know what is available, they may not know how to get access to these resources.

It is critical when implementing Right to Temporary Shelter that there are no stipulations and community outreach is provided to make people aware of what is offered and how they can enter the program.

I am calling on my fellow DTLA community members to stand up and be voices for the voiceless on the issue of homelessness. Together we can help the most vulnerable members of our community achieve greater well-being and avoid waiting for help, which would only serve to cause further harm. We can do this by reaching out to our State Assembly representative, Miguel Santiago (District Office: 320 W. Fourth Street, Room 1050 Los Angeles, 90013; 213–620–4646; assemblymember.santiago@assembly.ca.gov), to voice concern for our neighbors experiencing homelessness and support Right to Temporary Shelter as a means to get them help as soon as possible.

We must advocate for amending the bill to remove any requirements for entry and provide community outreach to bring awareness about the program to ensure maximum participation. A successful vote to implement Right to Temporary Shelter will provide people with help sooner rather than later, when they might develop more serious issues or succumb to their circumstances. It will literally save lives.

Sam Scaffido

Originally published at http://www.ladowntownnews.com on October 27, 2021.