I work in downtown Los Angeles in a major high rise in the financial district.  My building is managed by a company that manages other buildings in the area, including the Bank of America plaza.  Last week, all tenants of my building (as well as the other buildings) received a "special invitation" to attend a screening of a movie during lunchtime.  The movie is called "Skid Row" and it's a documentary by one of the singers of The Fugees -- Pras.  Pras spent 9 days on skid row with only 9 dollars in his pocket and filmed this excellent documentary undercover.  He literally walked in the shoes of the homeless...and it was very emotional, difficult.  I have a lot of admiration for him (though I had never heard of him before this).  So  anyway, we were invited to the screening and then a Q & A with one of the leaders of the Midnight Mission and the producer of the film.

So you'd think with all the tenants in these two or three high rises that surely they'd fill the 200 seat auditorium, right?  I got there and was the first to arrive right at 12 noon.  (the time was 12-2 p.m.)  By the time they started the film, about 12:15...there were maybe...at the most, 20 people there.  That's it!!!  The film was great...and I really learned a lot.  I wanted to share with you, since feeding and clothing the homeless is such an integral part of our ministry.  I mean, WE ARE THERE!  The very places they filmed were the same places were do our outreach. 

Here's what I learned:

Los Angeles has the largest population of homelessness.  Greater than San Francisco and more than two times the population of New York.
 
Skid Row is an area with a five-block radius and is home to 40,000 (yes, 40,000) homeless people!  Hispanics make up 47% of L.A.'s population and 24% are homeless.  Blacks make up 9% of the total population of L.A. but they make up 41% of the homeless population.

Skid Row was named that back in the 1890's.  It was the end of the train tracks and was really like the end of the line for the poor.  It has always been the area of homelessness, especially after the Vietnam War when the soldiers came back and had such difficulties getting back into society.  I think about 20 years later, when the state mental facilities closed and there was no where to put those that couldn't help themselves, the area was saturated with even more homeless people as they found themselves on the street.    In 2006, the midnight mission served over one million meals!  The midnight mission was built in 1914 and was the first mission in downtown Los Angeles.  There are five missions that service over 6500 families on skid row.

The problem with skid row is the "Containment" of the homeless.  They're somewhat out of sight, out of mind from the rest of the population.  Drugs are a huge problem....and sadly, quite a few of the people there actually choose to be there because of their addictions and the accessibility to the drugs.  There are only 180 beads for detoxicfication but there are 40,000 on the streets (not all with drug problems).  There are currently 100,000 heroin users in L.A. county and only 3 detox facilities. 

Of the homeless population, only 10% are chronicly homeless.  In other words, they are disabled, mentally challenged, ill, etc...and so therefore have no way out.  Another 10% will be there for a short 3-4 month period.  Maybe they've lost their job, or have a drug/alcohol problem...so they utilize the programs, get the help and move out.  But the other 80% are left. 

One of the major problems is that the county is in charge of health and human services, and with the iraqi soldiers coming back, and the current housing problems, it's not getting better.  There's no visible leadership and the government structure is just not there.  L.A. is not like S.F. & NY.  The city and county governments are not under the same umbrella.

During the Q and A they wanted to know how they can engage the general public to get involved.  They're talking to an audience of "suits"..people had no answers.  Of the people in attendence, other than the speaker, I was the only one that had any contact with the homeless.   I took the opportunity to tell them of In His Shoes and our outreach...of how we go there and feed and clothe.  Guess what, the guy from the Midnight Mission had heard of us!  Nodded his head and thanked us for helping at the end (came and shook my hand!)  Other people came up at the end as well and wanted to know the name of our organization and how they too could set us something like what we're doing.  I commented that most people want to help, but they're afraid of the unknown....some people can handle it and others can't....so we're there to be the ones that bridge that.

Anyways, it's a very powerful film and I've asked if we could screen a copy maybe at our bible Q of F group?  So how can we get involved?  They were encouraging us to get involved on the political level.  Write or call our city councilmen...our mayor...ask "What are you doing RIGHT NOW about the homeless situation in our city." 

In the meantime, I'm very very proud to be part of our group.  God bless our ministry!  And let's keep our homeless brothers and sisters in our prayers and hearts always!