“The Soloist” movie comes out in theaters in a couple days, and here’s hoping that it’s a great film, lots of people see it, and it generates an effective mobilization of public, private and personal resources to effectively end homelessness and provide the mentally ill with the services they need. I’d prefer that, rather thanContinue reading “The solution to homelessness”
Category Archives: Homelessness
“The Soloist” on 60 Minutes
In case you need any more encouragement to read “The Soloist” by Steve Lopez, check out the piece Morley Safer did on 60 Minutes this week on the relationship between Mr. Lopez and Mr. Ayers . It’s a nice piece, but trust me, read the book for a more complete story.
Review of “The Soloist” by Steve Lopez
We have a general rule of thumb in our household that before seeing a movie, we try to read the book on which it is based. (By the way, this has proved to be a great motivator for our son to plow through the Harry Potter books). You may have recently seen the trailer forContinue reading “Review of “The Soloist” by Steve Lopez”
Progress in Addressing Homelessness in Los Angeles?
“Los Angeles” is often thought of as synonymous with “dysfunctional” when it comes to addressing homelessness. In a post for the Funders Together: Homelessness Ends Here Blog I highlight the quiet, but significant, systemic changes being made toward ending homelessness in Los Angeles County. We still have a long way to go, but it isContinue reading “Progress in Addressing Homelessness in Los Angeles?”
Homeless children: a national disgrace
The National Center on Family Homelessness NCFH today released a report outlining the extent of homelessness among children in the U.S. In America’s Youngest Outcasts: State Report Card on Child Homelessness, NCFH researchers found: More than 1.5 million children are homeless annually in the United States—one in every 50 American children. 42 percent of homelessContinue reading “Homeless children: a national disgrace”
“The worst social disaster in America”
A couple years ago, I was contacted by an Italian filmmaker shooting a documentary about slums and poverty in various parts of the globe, and she wanted to talk about poverty in Los Angeles. I happened to be free the next morning, so I obliged and so she came over to my office with herContinue reading ““The worst social disaster in America””
The impact of the recession on the poor, and what’s in the stimulus bill for the hardest hit anyway?
As highlighted in my previous post, accurately measuring poverty is difficult enough, but another challenge is the timeliness of the data. Even when we have good numbers there is usually a significant lag time between when residents were surveyed and when the final data are released. The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty hasContinue reading “The impact of the recession on the poor, and what’s in the stimulus bill for the hardest hit anyway?”
Should I or shouldn’t I give money to people on the street?
It’s an age old question: do you give money to someone panhandling on the street? I heard Patty Stonesifer, former CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, on NPR recently talking about a Slate article she wrote with her daughter trying to answer this question. She argues that rather than giving handouts, we shouldContinue reading “Should I or shouldn’t I give money to people on the street?”
Rising demands for food and shelter
I attended a session this week on food and housing needs in Los Angeles with a panel of experts from both public and nonprofit agencies. What they had to share was truly scary. According to Miguel Santana from LA County, there has been a 30% increase in homeless families in the past year (which theyContinue reading “Rising demands for food and shelter”
There but for the grace of God go I
Today’s L.A. Times op-ed page had a touching account from Les Gapay, a former reporter at the Wall Street Journal, of how precious a permanent home is. Les, someone will all the qualifications to be successful in this knowledge economy, found himself homeless 6 1/2 years ago: “It was surprisingly easy to become homeless. AContinue reading “There but for the grace of God go I”
Bill Pitkin 