Los Angeles, home of the homeless
2019-11-27T17:26:00.725Z
The line goes around the block. I walk backwards looking at the faces of the people who compose it. Elderly, young, African American, white, Hispanic, some smile at my greeting, others lower their heads. I stop counting, the numbers don't tell stories even when they are as impressive as those of the homeless in Los Angeles. I live in this city since 2005 and homeless people are part of everyday life, of living in this metropolis. I am one of the first realities with whom I have come into contact. Even before knowing the Italian "community" in the city, I met many of them. They are like the stars on the Walk of Fame. They shore sidewalks, street corners. There is Bam Bam who told me and continues to tell of his adventure in the world of cinema (he had had a small part in a famous film), but ended when the procurement of cocaine became more important than presenting himself at the auditions. "It's my vice - he always says honestly - and I can't stop. Or rather I go to church, I stop, I clean myself and then fall back. Only my fault. "Then there's Bruce, a long white beard on his dark face, always staying near a bank, at night he repairs himself under the roof of the bus stop. He's a Vietnam veteran with an alcoholic background. He speaks little, smiles a lot. The opposite of James, who tells everyone he has a sick wife and begs for money just to take a taxi and go home to assist her. Unfortunately it has been doing so for at least ten years. Always repeats the same story. He shows the scars of a heart operation and shakes your arm affectionately when you "help" him to take that famous taxi. So many faces that, for years I have seen and reviewed, stories that I have heard to the point of becoming familiar. Lately, however, something has changed and it is unfortunately summarized in a number, a percentage: +12 percent that is how much the population of the homeless has increased only in the last year. And their sudden increase worries 95 percent of the Angelinos, the inhabitants of the city who are facing a situation that is falling because it is accompanied by a worsening of the hygienic situation in the streets, now also infested by rats. A change that is not limited only to downtown, where the area of San Pedro has always been a city in the city, with tens of thousands of homeless "residents". Now the problem is knocking on the doors of the houses. The tents, in fact, are mounted in residential areas, near the houses, in front of the shops, under the bridges of the highways, along the hills. Small camps that arise in the space of a few days and seem destined to remain long. "Once we were a group but now I'm alone against everyone, we're too many." Bam Bam tells me that he can't explain where thousands of "new" homeless people came from. The increase in the cost of rents, in a city where to live well, must have an income of at least 200 thousand euros a year, is certainly one of the main causes, but it is not the only one. The number of people killed on the streets of Los Angeles due to overdose or alcoholism is growing, and this is another factor. But if the city administration is asked for a cause, a reason, we understand that it is groping in the dark. So here I am, on Thanksgiving's eve as I walk the line in front of one of the shelters, shelters, which serve the classic lunch of what is the most beloved anniversary in America. Turkey, puree, pumpkin pie. The other years there was no line. In many volunteers, in fact, they mobilize on this day, while associations and churches are added to the shelters to be able to accommodate all those who presented themselves for a hot meal. This year is not so. I count 342 people waiting. The numbers perhaps count because in Los Angeles county today there are about 59 thousand homeless and next year could be many more.
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by Valentina Martelli November 27, 2019The line goes around the block. I walk backwards looking at the faces of the people who compose it. Elderly, young, African American, white, Hispanic, some smile at my greeting, others lower their heads. I stop counting, the numbers don't tell stories even when they are as impressive as those of the homeless in Los Angeles. I live in this city since 2005 and homeless people are part of everyday life, of living in this metropolis. I am one of the first realities with whom I have come into contact. Even before knowing the Italian "community" in the city, I met many of them. They are like the stars on the Walk of Fame. They shore sidewalks, street corners. There is Bam Bam who told me and continues to tell of his adventure in the world of cinema (he had had a small part in a famous film), but ended when the procurement of cocaine became more important than presenting himself at the auditions. "It's my vice - he always says honestly - and I can't stop. Or rather I go to church, I stop, I clean myself and then fall back. Only my fault. " Then there is Bruce, a long white beard on his dark face, always staying near a bank, at night he repairs himself under the roof of the bus stop. He's a Vietnam veteran with an alcoholic background. He speaks little, smiles a lot. The opposite of James, who tells everyone he has a sick wife and begs for money just to take a taxi and go home to assist her. Unfortunately it has been doing so for at least ten years. Always repeats the same story. He shows the scars of a heart operation and shakes your arm affectionately when you "help" him to take that famous taxi. So many faces that, for years I have seen and reviewed, stories that I have heard to the point of becoming familiar. Lately, however, something has changed and it is unfortunately summarized in a number, a percentage: +12 percent that is how much the population of the homeless has increased only in the last year. And their sudden increase worries 95 percent of the Angelinos, the inhabitants of the city who are facing a situation that is falling because it is accompanied by a worsening of the hygienic situation in the streets, now also infested by rats. A change that is not limited only to downtown, where the area of San Pedro has always been a city in the city, with tens of thousands of homeless "residents". Now the problem is knocking on the doors of the houses. The tents, in fact, are mounted in residential areas, near the houses, in front of the shops, under the bridges of the highways, along the hills. Small camps that arise in the space of a few days and seem destined to remain long. "Once we were a group but now I'm alone against everyone, we're too many." Bam Bam tells me that he can't explain where thousands of "new" homeless people came from. The increase in the cost of rents, in a city where to live well, must have an income of at least 200 thousand euros a year, is certainly one of the main causes, but it is not the only one. The number of people killed on the streets of Los Angeles due to overdose or alcoholism is growing, and this is another factor. But if the city administration is asked for a cause, a reason, we understand that it is groping in the dark. So here I am, on Thanksgiving's eve as I walk the line in front of one of the shelters, shelters, which serve the classic lunch of what is the most beloved anniversary in America. Turkey, puree, pumpkin pie. The other years there was no line. In many volunteers, in fact, they mobilize on this day, while associations and churches are added to the shelters to be able to accommodate all those who presented themselves for a hot meal. This year is not so. I count 342 people waiting. The numbers perhaps count because in Los Angeles county today there are about 59 thousand homeless and next year could be many more.
