Dear LA Times Editorial Staff re Homelessness: I have some thoughts.
Artwork by Delux Multimedia using AI Midjourney depicting the concept of community; we are all one. We can end homelessness together.
Dear LA Times Editorial Staff re Homelessness: I have some thoughts.
by Paul Asplund | 20 March 2024
Many years after recovering from homelessness and building a great life, I started working on the streets, first in SF and now in LA, bringing direct services, such as hygiene, laundry, haircuts, clothing, etc., to people who had lost their homes…
My return from homelessness happened when I was surrounded by a community that shared my experiences and stayed with me through every mistake I made, building resilience in me that made it possible for me to thrive.
Community is the one thing I know works; it has worked in my life and has worked for millions of others. It’s the inspiration for everything I do today.
And community is the only way we will end homelessness in LA.
Over 600,000 Angelenos are one paycheck, or one illness away from losing their housing at any given moment. Let’s be honest and recognize that the 70,000 we admit are already unhoused is closer to 100,000, and the number of people losing their housing daily has increased (e.g. 130 in 2019 to 227 in 2022), totaling around 80,000 per year.
The path back to housing for the hardest hit has become more deadly, more treacherous, and less accessible.
The agencies tasked with helping them are overwhelmed and overworked, and, ultimately, there is no housing anyway, so all their efforts fail to get people off the streets.
We’ve tried everything the experts could come up with and found nothing more powerful or successful than love, acceptance, forgiveness, and community.
Big agencies can’t do this; they never could; it will take us, the millions of Angelenos who share this beautiful place, the community groups, faith communities, and neighbors to rise up and say we will no longer accept the suffering among us.
We know the answer is us, but can we lay down our differences and unite to end this?
Paul Asplund is the founder of SecondGrace.LA, an online community committed to ending homelessness.
Ending Homelessness Together, Now, and for Good
Let’s end homelessness together, now and for good. Join the movement. http://secondgrace.la
#EndHomelessness #EndHomelessnessNow #LetsEndHomelessness #HomelessnessNoMore #HelpEndHomelessness #NoMoreHomelessness #HousingForAll #EndPoverty #FightHomelessness #HousingJustice
https://www.gofundme.com/f/lets-end-homelessness-together-now-and-for-good