Research Essay of Field Notes on Homeless

Being born and raised in the city of Los Angeles, I’ve seen the rate of homelessness increase year by year. It makes me upset because it’s disappointing seeing individuals in the city without homes, which causes some of them to intake drugs or lead them to have mental health issues. This has become such a big problem to the city and it’s going to get worse if Los Angeles's housing rate keeps rising and if they can’t make it affordable. Los Angeles’s homeless population grew by 16 percent in 2019, compared to 2011 the growth has gone up to 52 percent (Reihan). The growth of homelessness from 2011 to 2019 is overwhelming and shocking. No one wants to see the city they were born in fall into scraps since their government doesn’t want to try and take action. Most homeless are drug addicts and are usually addicted to meth. This is one of the serious issues the homeless create for themselves because of the situation they are faced with, which then revolves around mental health disorders such as depression. Using drugs can also be one of the main causes as to why they have mental illnesses. This shouldn’t even be a problem that’s normalized because rather than normalizing it we should be solving it. This is why there are about 60,000 men, women, and children living on the streets because although people are trying to help, it's a tough process.

One of the reasons why homelessness is a problem in Los Angeles is because the rate of housing keeps increasing. Most of the houses or buildings are being built in the most expensive areas (Woodyard). Building projects in expensive areas won’t make the situation any better because what happens to the working-class folks? It will just make the situation worse and then homelessness will continue to increase. It’s obvious that if they keep building houses or buildings in expensive areas a lot of people won’t get to afford them and it doesn’t even help anyone that is on the line of becoming homeless. Also, building homes in rich areas will just attract the people who are wealthy or obviously the people who can afford to pay an expensive place monthly and it doesn’t benefit those who don’t earn that much of a salary monthly. In an article from La Curbed, Elijah Chiland implies that an analysis taken at UC Berkeley reports that the rent for an apartment in Los Angeles is about $2,500 a month and people who get paid the minimum wage get paid only about $2,297 a month. $2,297 is barely enough to survive and this is one of the reasons why some people are homeless because the cost of rent is ridiculous in the city. In another article, a study claims that Los Angeles has the state's highest poverty rate at 24.3 percent (Blake). Many people can’t find affordable housing here anymore and 24.3 percent isn’t a pretty number, this can get more severe and won’t end great.

Another reason why homelessness is such a big issue is because many homeless people become drug addicts specifically, meth addicts. The use of drugs might take the pain away, but it isn’t good for anyone mentally or physically. Lopez in the Los Angeles Times article mentions that “many homeless use meth to stay up at night to be aware from robberies and assaults.” It’s clear that they use drugs because they’re afraid of what the outcome can turn out to be living in the streets. They have to be aware of everything because no one is really safe when they live in the streets since there are always strangers walking past them. In the article, they interviewed a man who was addicted to meth and he stated, “No matter how down or how vulnerable or depressed you feel, meth has the tendency to just get rid of all that in a way that drinking or crack can’t do.” This is the cause why most of the unsheltered in the city use drugs because of depression. Also, in an article in Daily News Elizabeth Chou mentions, “But a Los Angeles Times analysis of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Agency’s own homeless count data, that was released Monday, pegged the portion of LA’s homeless who are affected by… drug addiction at 67%.” This is a high amount of homeless people that use drugs this isn’t just 10% or even 15% but 67% and it’s only going to get worse. “Meth puts you in one of the deepest holes to climb out of. It rots people from the inside out and absolutely owns their lives, and they will do anything in order to exist on it and pursue it,” said Moore. Meth addiction rots people in and out, meaning that their health can be at risk of diseases and the outside of their physical won’t look the same as it used to because of the heavy drug. A doctor also mentioned, “Crystal meth is a plague for our society” She worked at a county jail and saw the disturbing long-term looks for this issue and it’s not good (Partovi). The homeless problem leads to a bigger problem in society and it clouds itself behind the homeless crisis, which is drugs. According to the LA Times, “LAPD Chief Michel Moore told me that generally speaking, opiates are a scourge on the East Coast right now and meth is destroying the West. Production has grown beyond small meth labs in the sticks, Moore said. Now it’s big business for Mexican cartels and major U.S. gang leaders, in and out of prison.” This is a breeding ground for more problems and this will only make the current situation worse than it already is. This is a drug addiction that many homeless have in Los Angeles it’s not great and we need to fear how this problem will be in the future.

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Lastly, the last reason why homelessness is a big issue is because of mental health issues. An agency called The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority got results that about 29 percent of homeless had a mental illness (Maxwell). It may not sound like 29 percent is a lot, but it’s a decent amount of men, women, and children who have mental health issues and are dealing with them on a daily basis. According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, “Many mental health disorders can lead to other chronic diseases and post-traumatic stress disorder.” If this is the case many homeless people may have chronic diseases and may or may not be cured because of the lack of medical attendance. In Los Angeles' Skid Row, tents line up entire city blocks. These handmade shelters for the city's homeless are now an almost permanent fixture of the city's landscape. According to CNN, “In dozens of interviews with unsheltered people in LA over the past year, many told CNN they won't apply for housing because they are afraid of the police, or unable to access the right documents to apply for ID, or sometimes simply wary of losing their independence if they are forced to live under rules that might be imposed if they moved into subsidized housing facilities. These homeless have many issues going on in their life and living in the streets doesn’t make things any better for them. This is a serious issue that they’re dealing with and 29 percent of these people need urgent help.

A solution that can help end homelessness will be housing. According to Institutional Scholarship “having a strong political will and an abundance of monetary or land resources, street outreach, quality temporary shelters/bridge housing, job assistance and career building programs, and centralization/coordination between service providers” (Kaley). Having these resources can help the unsheltered get some shelter and the help that they need to overcome homelessness. If the city of Los Angeles doesn’t provide housing as I mentioned before the rate of homelessness will continue to grow and grow throughout the years. This should be a solution because not only will they have a shelter, but they will be protected as well. They won’t have to be out in the streets worrying whether they’re going to get robbed or jumped in the middle of the night. Also, the individuals won’t have to worry about looking for food or even drugs when they get the help that they need. In the housing, they will have the resources they need including a restroom, food, and simply just a roof over their head. Homeless won’t be in danger anymore and there will obviously be fewer people living on the streets. The rates of physical assault will also decrease and that will change their attitudes as well. Differences identified include higher rates of physical assault among Latino/a respondents, lower rates among African Americans, and higher rates of physical assault among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) respondents (Petering). As we can see the LGBTQ community gets assaulted and looked after more than the other people who aren’t part of the LGBTQ community.

Lastly, another solution would be the Mayor Eric Garcetti to help the homeless people in the city. There’s an article on the mayor’s page that talks about ideas to solve the homelessness issues in Los Angeles, the article claims, “... Mayor Garcetti’s comprehensive housing strategy - which includes more than tripling the production and preservation of affordable housing, strengthening the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, and permitting 100,000 units by 2021 through a robust development reform agenda” (Housing Homeless Angelenos). Helping the homeless with affordable housing will be great for all Angelenos because there aren’t going to be as many people on the streets anymore. With affordable housing, it will help those who can barely afford to pay their rent and are at risk of becoming homeless, so the rate of unsheltered will decrease. Another thing the mayor is doing is funding money for services that help the homeless get shelter. The article on the mayor’s page states, “Mayor Garcetti also pushed for state funding to help accelerate the work of ending the homelessness crisis- a successful effort that resulted in an additional $166 million in state funding in 2018 and $270 million in 2019 to Los Angeles for homeless services and housing” (Homelessness: How We Got Here and How L.A. is responding). Fundings will help the city and its residents because it will help build more housing for our homeless residents. Also, it will help the homeless get services that they need that they aren’t able to afford. This solution will help many people out in the streets to have a place to stay and finally have a home once again. It will remove many people from the streets and keep residents out on the streets as well. The mayor has also raised the minimum wage in the city, the article says, “One in five residents live in poverty. That’s why Mayor Garcetti led the successful effort to raise L.A.’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, which is lifting incomes for more than 500,000 workers” (Homelessness: How We Got Here and How L.A. is responding). Raising the minimum wage plays a role in people’s incomes and keeps people from becoming homeless which this solution will help many people.

After all, homelessness has a big impact on the city of Los Angeles. There are people helping the city to get the unsheltered residents some homes, but the amount of people on the streets is insane that it’s difficult to take care of all of them. Some homeless become drug addicts mainly meth addicts because they get depressed living on the streets and it heals their pain for a couple of hours. The drugs also affect the homeless mental health as well. There are many people in the city of Los Angeles who need help to find a home and are suffering for a bed/place to sleep in. Raising minimum wages will absolutely help our Angelenos from being at risk of becoming homeless. Think about it, not only does it affect them, but it also affects our surroundings when we go to a place. Homelessness shouldn’t be normalized, especially in a city where there’s success. The city of Angels can do better and will do better and there’s hope that things will change in a couple of years with all the help that’s been given.