A new series of interviews featuring the plight of homeless people in West Hollywood has debuted on YouTube channel Homeless In America. Documentarian Todd C. Lovejoy delivers food and lifts the lid on life on the streets of greater Los Angeles, putting a human face on the crisis as it spirals further out of control.
The homeless need to be forced into one of the three
1) If they are down on their luck they need to be given a home/place to stay
2) If they have mental illness they need to be forcibly put into mental facility
3) If they have drug addictions they need to be forcibly put into drug rehab
Staying on the street should not be allowed as an option.
The very first video, with the transient sitting on the ground against a white wall… did anyone else notice a seemingly (new, probably expensive) road bike in front of him? yea, let’s help out the people who are victimizing others by giving them a free lunch. SMH.
also, let’s not pretend like these people don’t have EBT cards. every single one of them. they can get food if they want. tney’d just prefer dope.
Anyone that thinks many of these folks are not scamming the system is delusional. The entire system is being scammed at multiple points by multiple people inside and out.
There are certainly many homeless who are mentally ill. But the majority appear to be drug addicts.
There were always some homeless in Americans cities, but the rise coincided with the change in our drug laws.
100%, most of the homeless now just want to do drugs. They dont want a home even when offered. They want to live in a tent with easy access to cheap drugs.
Am I missing something ? Did anyone see or go to Skid Row downtown Los Angeles?
How bout Santa Monica, where the police are in full force! No! just little Weho with out amazing city counsol. Ridiculous
Everywhere From West Hollywood Dog Owners Leaving Dog crap on the sideways,To West Hollywood City council members letting the homeless crap on the the sideways…And Now California plans to turn sewage into drinking water…California has Really gone down the Toilet !
I’m gonna watch these as soon as I’m done watching “Nana Mouskouri Does Slipknot — Live in Concert.”
Start by stopping DEMOCRATS 35 years of massive illegal immigration for HOUSE seats. This is the root of flooding poor communities and pushing Americans into the streets. Just take a look at this latest batch of 7 million and the billions democrats mayors rushed to spend on them. Instant hotels, clothes, food, medical care and schooling.
Sanctuary Hell.
It’s not just Democrats. Texas is mostly Republican elected officials, they do the same thing and they also traffic the migrants (migrants aren’t necessarily illegals). The problem is people like all of the Weho City Council thinks it’s our problem, rather than ship them off to possibly approved land way out in the desert. You have no plan, just complaining accomplishing nothing.
Guess who is letting in MIGRANTS?? Biden & Mayorkas!!!! Dems.
Biden is incompetent completly destroying the Democratic Party with his switch to progressive trash.
We have Mr Magoo as our president. His policies are whatever the teleprompter says they are.
The benefits for those building the housing appear to be far greater than the stated mission of simply housing the homeless. Since there is no provision for their treatment, merely housing these folks, causing them to be invisible to the public seems lacking in ethics and humanity. Carl Cronin made mention and I have privately advocated for tented communities as in prior years, wartime and beyond, that are set up as a triage facility, housing, rehabilitation and work project for those capable of rehabilitation. Anything else is expensive, wishful thinking to prattle on about caring for these unfortunate individuals.
Agreed. The amount of money being spent on housing for individuals not wanting to be housed is horrifying. Dedicated, tented communities with the services you suggest would at least provide safety and shelter while also relieving the rest of the city of living in constant fear. This is an emergency situation and needs to be treated as such, without red tape.
It’s too bad Todd didn’t interview James who camps out at Emser Tile on N. Olive. He would tell you he is a CEO of a company, but they make parts for military weapons which is top secret so he can’t say any more about it. At 5:00AM he can often be heard talking to the employees at his restaurant, on his invisible phone, about the day’s menu. Then he has to stay in touch with the king of Sweden because he is taking the census. As soon as his house in San Francisco is completely remodeled he will be… Read more »
The shameful disregard of the homeless by federal, states, counties, cities continues because there is no “political will” with which to deal with the situation. There have always been some homeless people on our streets but not in the numbers we see today. Building house for them is a slow, expensive, long-term deal. Annex 20 acres f Griffith Park, hue them in tents (as we do for refugees in other lands), provide sanitation, water and security, legacy restrain the mentally ill – then continue to work to ;rovuide permanent housing. At least, they’d be off the streets.
Carleton, they won’t go to these facilities nor to whatever home has been provided for them. Many of them do have homes they could go to but they prefer the streets. What you’re suggesting is compassion without logic. Logically they would stay in a home that was provided for them but we’re not dealing with people who think as you and I do. Anything other than forcing them into residential care where they are put on meds that make them able to function seems to me to be the only answer. That’s the way it used to be! Please see… Read more »
Then law, as noted in one of Dickens ‘novels, “is an ass!” It should be allowed to remove ,mentally ill from the streets”for their own good” if not for ours. Sometimes, as I was reminded not long ago, we have too much “democracy.
I wonder, Carleton, did you vote for Pat Brown when he ran for governor?
You apparently don’t read any of the official reports on homelessness.
I can’t name all of them but the one I posted today would have corrected some of your misimpressions/misstatements.
Apparently it offended somebody.
I don’t see any other comment from you.
Would you be specific about my misimpressions/misstatements, please?
Let’s try posting this again:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/20/california-affordable-housing-crisis-homelessness-study-myths-older-black-residents
I will admit I read only half of this but I seriously doubt the validity of this study. People who do research studies often have an agenda and may focus on only what confirms their bias. No, I can’t refute what is here with my own sources and I’m not going to spend the time looking for it, but just look at the homeless in WeHo and tell me what you observe. I don’t doubt that there are a considerable amount of homeless people who are a part of what is described in this article, but those people know enough… Read more »
This one was probably the worst:
“Many of them do have homes they could go to but they prefer the streets.”
This is based on my own interactions with some of them and from news reports. Some have family who would take them in and some have rent-subsidized apartments that they won’t go to. Years ago there were homeless men being murdered somewhere in California, and it may have been in Orange county. A family who knew a homeless guy who hung out at one particular spot begged him to come stay with them, just a couple blocks away, until the murderer was caught, but he wouldn’t do it. Thinking that maybe he might not want to intrude they offered to… Read more »
Every year, housing becomes scarcer.
Your sentence above is apparently the opposite of what you are advocating.
Please reread- emphasis is mine:
Rent subsidized they won’t go to is beyond belief.|
Having their own home is different from a garage or a room in an apartment.
But thank you for clarifying.
Btw, whose surveys would you trust?
Citing articles from satisfactory sources is the best that I can do – all day long.
They’re mentally ill, Joshua88! You can’t apply your standard and thought processes to theirs. Their brain doesn’t compute logically as yours does. The article you shared likely includes “total” homeless without distinguishing between those who are temporarily unhoused, who know to seek available services, from those we are dealing with here in WeHo who are on the streets and have no interest in looking for an alternative, so maybe I was wrong to not make that distinction from what the article was saying. Yes, I agree it is beyond belief that they refuse what you and I would grab instantly… Read more »
https://katu.com/news/nation-world/father-of-homeless-killings-suspect-is-also-homeless-11-20-2015
This is not the story I was referring to but it just popped up as I did a quick search.
“Anything other than forcing them into residential care where they are put on meds that make them able to function seems to me to be the only answer.”
So, what’s your point?
This was beginning of my response which was cut off – below.
Every year, housing becomes scarcer.
Your sentence above is apparently the opposite of what you are advocating.
Please reread – emphasis is mine:
(For some reason, it is not possible to edit here anymore.)
I don’t know which of your comments to attach this to so I’m not following what you’re trying to communicate.
What sentence of mine is the opposite of what I am advocating?
Prime land in Griffith Park? I pay taxes to use that park for my recreation, not to entertain and house people who made bad life choices. Get them way out of the city on government land. You think the residents of Los Feliz are gonna want that? Your thinking is exactly the problem.
not every homeless person has made bad choices. medical and mental issues come to mind. not their fault. you should be more compassionate towards your fellow human. hope you never have money issues and find out for yourself.
And we spend BILLIONS in California on homelessness. No accountability the same as BILLIONS FOR Ukraine! Keep voting DEM.
California has spent a stunning $17.5 billion trying to combat homelessness over just four years.
Time to fix it.
Got any ideas?
Republicans don’t want to fix it, either, and they appear to be less compassionate, except a couple of people.
Towards the end of Gov. Pat Brown’s term in office (he’s Gov. Jerry Brown’s dad) he and the assembly determined it was a violation of the civil rights of the mentally ill to be forced housed in facilities. These were people who could function well if they just took their meds daily, but on their own they didn’t. While they were in residential care they got their meds and were allowed to leave the residence alone – so it wasn’t like they were in jail – but they had to come back at the end of the day. So these… Read more »
Most would agree we can’t trust the mentally ill to take their meds as prescribed, as agreed. Get them out of the city. No expensive treatment places that don’t work, that are expensive babysitting places. Enough is enough with the free ride for anyone who made bad life choices. I can’t believe our elected representatives hadn’t figured this out in over 60 years. And people keep reelected the same kind of people who do nothing, at all levels. I agree, don’t force people into housing. But arrest trespassers/loiterers and get them way out into the desert. If we make laws… Read more »
maybe you should be the one moving way out into the desert. thought about that?
Yes, you are definitely part of the problem. Blaming working, tax paying citizens instead of the politicians who have allowed this problem to grow exponentially. Since your heart bleeds profusely, and you don’t think the government can solve the problem,why don’t you take in just one homeless person and help rehabilitate them?
i do. thank you very much for assuming
There is so much wrong with this.