| What is Skid Row | In the 1880’s all the trains heading west ended in Los Angeles. As the economy changed and people rode the rails looking for work and new lives, many ended up in LA; broke and broken. You can still see many of the train tracks in bits and pieces of the pavement throughout the area.
Skid Row became formalized in a 1975 Redevelopment Plan with a “Policy of Containment”. As a physical, mapable, geographic neighborhood also known as Central City East in downtown Los Angeles where low income and homeless individuals and families live in shelters, SRO’s and on the streets. Skid Row is often associated as the community of homeless people living in tents and boxes. Many social service outreach programs are located there as well. The original term Skid Row came from loggers who lived in a logging town where trees were skidded into the river as part of the Lumber Process. After the Lumber Industry dried up, many loggers stayed behind, jobless and homeless. |
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| Where is Skid Row | . According to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in April 2006; the official boundaries are Third and Seventh Streets to the north and south and Alameda and Main Streets to the east and west, respectively. | |
| How long do people stay on Skid Row | I can’t find a statistic on this. I m going tp speak from what I have witnessed.
Without serious and in depth outreach and outside intervention: Skid Row = Death Row and people become accustomed to it and never leave. They may transition from the streets to shelters to an SRO, but the longer they are there, the less likely they will leave. |
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| What services are available to Homeless Residents | LAMP Community 627 San Julian Street –
Midnight Mission – 601 South San Pedro Street, Los Angeles
Union Rescue Mission 545 San Pedro St • Los Angeles
The Hippie Kitchen Hospitality Kitchen
There are hundreds more: these are my favorites and in my experience: the best.
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| What rights do Homeless Folks have | All the basic civil and legal rights afforded to all people. The right not to be touched and harassed by the Central city Security (Red shirts, yellow shirts, Purple shirted private security on bikes)The right to sit and sleep on the street between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. the ACLU fought for this window of time permitting sleep in violation of the Anti-Camping Law 41.18(d). | |
| What is the crime rate on Skid Row |
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| Does anything need to change? |
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Homeless in LA
Homelessness in LA County
Filed under LAMP …
LAMP is hiring
When I first found out about LAMP, I stalked them for half a yer until Gayle (the HR lady at the time) gave me a job. Working at LAMP was an experience that changed who I am, what my values are and I loved it.
I think that has a lot to do with the staff who worked there while i was there, but the agency still does wonderful work and I stop by every time I go through Skid Row
Mad at Susan Komen but want to fight Cancer? Support Lisa Ferguson.
City of Hope, UCLA, Project Angel Food – these are three great orgs that benefit form the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Lisa is walking and this is her page . http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR?px=4586399&pg=personal&fr_id=2174&et=RXl1IrxWgi7CT-iwBLpngQ&s_tafId=553721 . I like that 80% of funds raised stay in the area where the walks are held.
Sure, the walk hurt her, but Cancer hurts even more
A for treatment. Cancer isn’t just for the rich.
Also, My friend Linda Harris had a double mastectomy just months after I met her at The Lamp Lodge. She only had Medi-Cal and the excellent services of USC Medical Center.
The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is a national series of 39-mile weekend fundraising events launched in 2003 by the Avon Foundation.
The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer event series is a project of the Avon Foundation for Women and is not affiliated with any other breast cancer organizations or programs such as Susan G. Komen for the Cure, American Cancer Society, or Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Meet Linda Harris
Singer, resident of Skid Row, and I saw her on The Bold and the Beautiful on CBS.
I was writing about the show on my Facebook when Darlene Altemeier Dobbs (my friend, a painter, and also resident of skid Row) mentioned to look for Linda.)
This is Jackie and Linda from after The United Way Homewalk in 2008
Statistics show that we tune out when we see a group of people suffering. But, when the issue is brought to a personal level – presented to us as just one person- we get connected and are interested.
Linda told her story in 2006 for a report on supportive housing. It is on page 11 http://www.rwjf.org/files/publications/other/Corp_Supportive_Housing.pdf
Linda is in an acting group at LAMP Community and is always singing. You can also see her in The Soloist.
Hmmmm… I am tempted to drive over and look for Linda and ask her about the filming she was part of. What do you think, should I?
If I can find Darlene, I want to ask why she wasn’t in the filming -she painted this:
www.wearevisible.com
Giving voices and bringing people out of seclusion and into the public eye and media stream, We Are Visible is geared at teaching people (primarily the homeless) how to set up Facebook, Twitter, and G-mail accounts.
I love this idea. I reminds me of the year I spent at LAMP with the help of Microsoft and MSN teaching the homeless how to set up e-mail and blogs to be able to connect with their families and friends.
PS: you need not be homeless for the information on this site to be useful to you. Go look!
read more ♥♥ http://www.wearevisible.com/
Blogging at LAMP- http://homelessinla.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/blogging-on-the-row/
Double Murder – a year later
What happened Easter morning in 2009 at The Lamp Lodge in LA’s Skid Row and what does it say about the safety and services for residents there . . .
Read the City Journal’s story on the Truth about Policing and Skid Row for an animated accounting of the murder and reasons behind it. Basically it is as I was told by the residents – a result of letting drug dealers live in and access a building.
It has everything to do with the attitude and beliefs of the agency running the building – or in this case – the landlord – seeing as The Lodge is Permanent Supportive Housing.
When I worked there under the direction of John Best – drug dealing was an evictable offense. Using drugs was not a cause for eviction but it was expected to be done discreetly and with your apartment door closed and without a gaggle of friends joining you. I had some very uncomfortable talks with Razor – the East Coast Crip who had possession of the 600 block of Stanford when I was a Housing Advocate there. Eventually we came to an agreement that he would not be within site of the building and would not sell in the building and in return I would discuss the debts owed to him with the Lamp Lodge residents and build a drug fund into their monthly budgets. Without a drug dealer in residence and without one on site – the usage went down.
I was active in evicting heavy users and dealers such as “Gretchen” – and rescued her turtle who was swimming in a plastic bucket of old Bong Water. My poor turtle was on crack.
The point is – that with Manny, Annie and John working the building – it was a safer place to live where the worst thing that happened to you was Tony from the Roach Coach (until I screamed at him one day and he stopped blocking my car in and parked down the street- hey, I am cranky!) would visit you or I would ask you to sign a Consent for Services form or other annoying bit of Social Worker paperwork.
Creating a safe community and place to live is WORK but it is possible and has been done before without blaming the police or the tenants. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that mentally ill and addicted adults will be targeted by drug dealers. It takes professional management skills to keep a building free of them and LAMP clearly failed.
Casey Horan, the Director of LAMP for the past few years since Mollie Lowry (now of Housing Works) stepped down is now gone and Shannon Murray is the Interim Director. Shannon has been at LAMP a long time and came in under Mollie. I hope she goes Old Skool and brings back accountability, theory and community to LAMP and that this will never be repeated.
Bon Jovi goes to LAMP
Monday morning, Steve Lopez of the LA Times and Bon Jovi visited Lamp Community. Read more HERE.
Lamp has a new web page and apparently is switching executive directors. Congratulations to
| Shannon Murray Interim Executive DirectorOther really cool and impressive people to watch at LAMP are:
Lawrence Manley Alicea Polk Skid Row Collaborative Program Manager. She and I shared office space for about a year – she is smart, efficient, friendly and in a pinch will jump out of your car to shout driving instructions to big rigs who can’t navigate the tiny potholed streets of Skid Row. And, she dies all this while being dressed in pink. I would not be surprised to hear she is the Executive Director of something someday. |
Wade Killefer – On the Board of Directors, here is a man who really “gets it”
——————– As you know, I used to work at LAMP and it and the clients there are near and dear to my heart. I hope that you have the chance to hear more about them in the future.
Lamp Community: Art on Skid Row
ART is THERAPY
The Lamp Art Project allows members of Lamp and the Skid Row Community as a who;e to enjoy a little art, take a painting class, get tutoring and learn from a real master and from the other painters – and it allows them to showcase their art works and sell them.
Darlene Altemier Dobbs paints the most beautiful flowers as well as Side Walk perspectives of Skid Row. Darlene was homeless, faced some special needs that she has overcome, and is a sweet and down to earth woman who loves her family and friends and lives in the Low Rent Lamp Lodge which is just around the corner from the Art Studio. As of the last time she and I had a chat, much of her time was freely donated, or almost donated since she is paid with a stipend and not an actual salary which would entitle her to health benefits and a decent wage. Instead she is paid just enough for her to continue to draw Social Security Disability income -which she would not need were she an actual employee. She, however, is more than content with her almost volunteer docent position.
Check out the web site http://www.lampartproject.org/, and if you can catch an exhibit – I strongly encourage it. I would ( and actually have ) buy the artwork directly from the artist and not from LAMP because LAMP took a cut of the proceeds of the artwork even though the artists pay for their own supplies.
If you are looking to donate money or art supplies – donate gift cards for an art store or fresh art supplies, canvases, paints, directly to the Art Project.
The LAMP ART PROJECT is my favorite part of Lamp and actually, my favorite part of Skid Row, I would like to see it grow and flourish and be supported for the good work it does the emotional stability of the artists.
I love the art project, and I am endlessly sad that Rory White is no longer leading the program. He is simply amazing!
I found the photo Rory took of me: http://www.lampartproject.org/ I possibly look a little different now.
Skid Row Murder update
Shanana Flores, Lamont Ward, and, Richard Luna. These are the names of the people who caused the Lamp Lodge Murder at 660 S Stanford Avenue on Easter Sunday.
Ryan Vaillancourt wrote a wonderful story on this in the Los Angeles Downtown News.
But, they are not the only people responsible. That portion of Skid Row is under policed and over looked. Even though there are several sober living hotels and centers in the area – there streets are infested with drug dealers. The drug dealers don’t live on Skid Row – but their clients do.
Lamp Community was made aware, several times, that there were drug dealers living in the low income apartment building called Lamp Lodge. On Easter Sunday, three different drug dealers called the building home. Somehow this did not interfere with the building receiveing HUD and Section 8 – Shelter Plus Care funding for 14 of the units.
What do I suggest?
You think of a few answers and I will be back with mine.
