Homelessness in LA County: a Look at Skid Row

On Wednesday night the eighth of January, a group of students from UCLA Anderson, and the UCLA School of Urban Planning toured the Skid Row district of downtown Los Angeles with LA City Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district encompasses Skid Row.  Also with us on the tour were Estella Lopez, Executive director of the Central City East Association, and Captain Rick Wall of the LAPD, who commands patrol officers in the area.  About ten of Captain Wall’s officers accompanied the 30 person walking tour, in cars and on foot.

The first thing one notices about Skid Row is that there are A LOT of people sleeping on the street (which is legal, both in and out of tents, after 9pm).  Many more people crowd the shelters and congregate around their entrances, jostling for access to some of the overstretched social services that are available.  Walking around the corner from the Midnight Mission, one becomes viscerally grateful for the company of armed police officers and the few private security guards that the CCEA brings along.  One is then struck by the fact that all of these veterans - the councilwoman, the cops, the aid workers that are with us – keep remarking on how much improved the situation is compared to the way it used to be.  This is a little overwhelming while one walks through a situation that is an urgent humanitarian crisis unfolding on San Pedro street every night as the sun goes down and the flower shops and fabric outlets close up shop for the night.

The second thing one notices, walking these darkening streets in the company of the officials and volunteers who are trying to help, is their ability to treat the homeless as people.  Councilwoman Perry speaks to a few of them as we queue up to begin the tour.  They pepper her with questions and she responds (she is quite knowledgeable about the services available) to them as constituents.  The social services workers and even some of the police officers spend time talking to the people who are settling in for another night on the sidewalks of Crocker Street, checking on them, taking the pulse of this community.  That’s what Skid Row is, a community, with people and a social order like any other.  The police try to make sure that those unfortunate enough to be living on Skid Row are not murdered or raped in their sleep, but they do seem a little cynical that such a situation persists in a place as wealthy as Los Angeles.

The shelters make a big difference, and there are many of them, but temporary shelter is not a long-term solution for homelessness.  We visited the Skid Row Housing Trust’s Rainbow Apartments, where we met with Cristian Ahumada, housing director and Molly Rysman, PR Director.  SRHT builds supportive housing – subsidized housing with mental, physical, and occupational health services bundled in, that aims to not only house but resocialize the chronically homeless.  After prepping one of Professor Sussman’s real estate cases that afternoon it was a real eye-opener to listen to Cristian talk about how one finances a project that is designed to house people who have no money.  It’s disheartening to realize the extent to which our political society has failed its poorest citizens, but quite inspiring to spend time with people who are expending their personal and professional energies to try to do something about it. 

If you’d like to get involved, there will be ample opportunity this spring as The Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA, UCLA Anderson, the Urban Land Institute’s Los Angeles District Council, and the Westside Urban Forum embark on a three-phase program, called 1000 Homes, aimed at increasing the stock of supportive housing in Los Angeles County by 1000 units in five years. The first phase of 1000 Homes is a planning, design, and development competition among young professionals and graduate students from local universities to generate innovative ideas towards impacting this difficult issue.  

In the meantime, check out the Skid Row Housing Trust at www.skidrow.org, or tour Skid Row yourself the first Wednesday of every month, through www.centralcityeast.org/SkidRow/walk.htm

 

About 80,000 people sleep in the streets of LA each night.  80,000 people.

Oceans Healing Group

            Over winter break I took a surf vacation with some friends.  Three of them are in wheelchairs, two are quadriplegic.  The trip was the inaugural event of The Oceans Healing Group, a new 501C3 organization of which I am a board member.  The groups mission is to facilitate action-sports vacations for paraplegics and their families.  This entails covering the costs of the vacations (these families are almost always crushed by medical expenses), and providing an expert volunteer force for each trip to facilitate travel and the adaptive sports.

            This first trip, we took Patrick, who is 14 and has been quadriplegic since a car ran him over at age 2, and Jake, 21, who has a rare form of ataxia (a nervous system dysfunction) that renders him quadriplegic.  Christiaan Bailey, a professional parasurfer came along to oversee things and be a role model.  We took the boys to Shaka Surf Camp on Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula for a week.  Shaka is a for-profit surf camp that regularly donates time and effort to nonprofit adaptive healing programs. (It’s also a great place to stay on vacation).

 Patrick’s mother and sister came along, as did both of Jake’s parents.  We had the opportunity to work on the boys’ surfboard control using custom-modified boards on a deserted beach.  The length of the trip allowed us to work on their actual surfing skills rather than just push them into foamball-waves like a carnival ride (which is how they started).  We were also able to supervise the boys and keep them busy enough that their parents got a little time off, which is a rarity with a quadriplegic child.  We sent Jake’s folks out for a second honeymoon one night, and Patrick’s mom got a beach-day-and-shopping-with-the-girls break, plus ample opportunity to play with her son in the water.

            It takes at least 8 volunteers to surf these guys.  Functioning quadriplegics like these lie face down on a surfboard, propped up on their upper arms, with their elbows in custom foam cups or friction pads on the board.  Typically two of us swim them out through the break and wait for a good wave (not too big, “peeling” from one direction).  When one comes along, we push the surfer into the wave, trailing on the board’s tail for a moment to be sure the “take-off” is successful.  From this point, the parasurfer is on his or her own, steering with whatever mobility they have in their shoulders and head.  Three people work “mid,” in the impact zone.  Their job is to be present in case of a wipeout as the wave breaks (quadriplegics do not swim well and can have difficulty turning over when facedown in the water).  The remaining volunteers work the shallows and the beach to catch surfer and board in the case of a long ride (or a separate arrival).  In the warm waters of Costa Rica, we were able to surf the boys at least once per day, for sessions lasting over an hour each.  This is taxing work for the volunteers, particularly in large surf, but we got to watch Jake and Patrick learn to surf and to control the board on their own, carving, riding down the line, and getting a little face time.  Added to the days in camp with them - napping, eating, playing monopoly, afternoon snorkeling, etc, - the trip was an uplifting experience.  Spending a lot of time with quadriplegics makes one acutely grateful for the basics of life, and puts the rigors and stress of business school into a sane perspective.

            There are opportunities to help with adaptive surfing events here in the US through an organization called Life Rolls On.  My friends at school and I are organizing a West Coast MBA surf Competition through the UCLA Anderson Surf Club and Anderson NetImpact that will benefit adaptive surfing charities.  

Oceans Healing Group is in its nascence, and could use your support through financial or in-kind contributions.

            Check out:

 www.myspace.com/oceanshealing ,

www.liferollson.org , and

www.shakacostarica.com for more information and ways to get involved.