Hear their stories...

A 2015 report by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority found that the number of homeless in Los Angeles has risen a staggering 12% in the past two years, and the number of those who spend their nights on the streets has doubled.

 

I have lived in many cities in my life, and walked by so many transient people - willing myself not to see their plight.  But in Los Angeles there was no direction in which I could look to avoid this human suffering. 

The daily contrast with the bloated visuals of fame and fortune-frenzy in this town unearthed in me a frustration I hadn’t felt before.

 

What you’ll find in this project are glimpses of some of the people I have encountered in Miracle Mile, my own neighborhood. Walking along Wilshire Blvd, I offer to buy them what they need (usually food), I talk to them a bit, and then ask if I can include them in this project.

 

According to the 2014 LA Almanac, like Twilight, 27% of the LA homeless population lived in foster care or group homes.

 

Like Trinidad, as many as two-thirds of them have or had substance abuse issues.

 

Like Eddie, approximately 75% of them are men -

and 50% are African-American.

 

Like Kimberly, 25% are mentally ill.

 

And some, like Hollywood Francs, cannot be profiled in any specific way.

 

But all of them want to be seen and heard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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