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Homelessness in Los Angeles County: the Shocking Statistics

Homelessness in Los Angeles County: the Shocking Statistics

Who is the profile of a homeless person?

The statistics of homeless people in L.A. County are appalling! Just to give you something to think about while answering these questions, South Los Angeles has the biggest percentage of homeless people in the country. Let’s start out with what you think you know the basic facts.  Okay, how many people do you think are homeless in L.A. County per year? (Hhmmm… Think about that). The answer is 254,000! And out of 254,000, 10,000 are unaccompanied youth! Not only is that is a lot of people in L.A. County, but that is a lot of young homeless people!

Okay, next question, how many people are homeless on any given night in L.A. County (I’ll give you a hint: it’s not 254,000)? The answer is 82,000 people. So every night that you go and lay your head down on your pillow, get all bundled up by the fire on a rainy night, wash your face in your bathroom that you do not share with anybody or turn on your air conditioner or heater these 82,000 homeless people are just wishing they could have a blanket to keep them warm. Parents are always doing the best they can for their kids making sure that they have proper clothing for the seasons, and the necessities of life, but the mothers of the 16,400 to 35,260 homeless families are trying to do their best for their kids, but they cannot.

Okay, on to the nest question. Who do you think makes up 20% of the homeless population in L.A. County: a.) wannabe actors b.) Drug addicts c.) The mentally ill d.) Veterans? The answer is veterans. How sad is it that the men and women who fight for our country, so that we can have freedom and so that we can live in this great country, make up 20% of the homeless population in our county? Don’t these people deserve some respect? Shouldn’t we be doing something for them to guarantee that when they come back from war they can go back to a normal life and not become homeless?

 Next question, are all homeless people unemployed? No!!! 20% of the homeless people in L.A. County are currently employed, but just like Barbara Ehrenreich proved in her book, Nickel and Dimed, people cannot get by, let alone support a family on one minimum wage job. Maybe we would have less homeless people if minimum wage gave them enough money to support a family, but we will talk about that in the next section.

What is being done to help the homeless people?

Yes, there are a lot of homeless people, and now that we have established that, let’s talk about what is to help them. One of the few things that is being done to help them is being done by the Weingart Center. The Weingart Center’s mission is: “The Weingart Center Association is committed to establishing a world in which all people have and maintain a high-quality productive life.”  The Weingart Center is a non-profit organization located in the heart of L.A. on Skid Row. What the Weingart Center does is provides  homeless people with a place to live for up to two years, and during those two years they discuss what caused the homelessness and what they are going to do to fix it. They work hard to get these people to get jobs, update their education, steer clear from drugs and alcohol, and make sure they are in good shape both physically and mentally.

The government also does some to help these homeless people, although the help is not enough. Only a mere 33% of homeless people in L.A. County receive the public benefits to which they are entitled. What needs to happen is the government needs to make sure that the tax dollars that are being collected to help these people are actually going to these people. It is frustrating when every single time you vote, there is a new proposition and it is said to go to certain things, when it ends up not even going to those things at all. If these people are going to get helped and slowly make their recovery back into a normal society than the government needs to make sure that they are giving them the benefits that are promised to them.

Whose responsibility is it to help the homeless?

The answer to this question is going to be harsh, and many of you will not like it and disagree with it, but it is the truth. The responsibility of helping the homeless people belongs to the church and the church alone. In Acts 2:44-45 it says “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.” As believers in Christ, it is our job to help the needy. In this verse in Acts these believers sold everything they had to give it the needy. We are to love others as Christ loves us, and if that means we need to help them out then we need to help them out. Today the church assumes that it is not their responsibility since the government is “taking care of it,” but the reality is it is. The excuse today is “that I pay all of these taxes to help these people and now I have to go to church and pay for them too?” The reality is that is you were already paying to support them in your church, and every church member was doing that same; there would be less or even no need for the government to collect taxes to help the homeless and poor. Christians need to help the poor and give to the needy as they are commanded, but just because Christians are commanded to, it does not mean that they are the only ones who have to, anybody can help out those in need.

Now, the most important question of all: What are you going to do to help the homeless people in America? Are you going to allow the situation to become worse or are you going to try and make a difference? The choice is up to you!

Kelsey Campbell

*** If you would like to make a donation to the Weingart Center, go to there website @ www. Weingart.org ***

About the Author

This was a school assignment. We needed to address the problem of homelessness in L.A. County

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