When I was a kid we were turned out to the street from the end of school until the street lamps came on. Then we dropped the footballs, hula hoops, and brushed off the grass from our pants and went home to dinner, homework, baths and bed.
Toys dot the parking lot of PATH in Glendale
For some that is the American Dream, and only a dream because they were born into homelessness. They live under overpasses, in tunnels, on garage floors, in back seats of cars, on the street and occasionally – the lucky ones – live in shelters and dream of a place to call home.
- February 4th, a little boy with no home and a mother who was living in the park until her baby was born
On February 4th I took my youngest daughter, Darla, to Glendale PATH Achieve to meet the staff there. Also, we had clothes and supplies that we did not need. Via Twitter I had heard that a week after Darla was born – another baby, Rose, was born to a young couple living in Griffith Park in a tent. Rose is in the purple and white blanket above, Darla is in yellow.
Without assistance, it is possible that the baby in this picture would be without permanent housing for years and grow up in tents and moving from shelter to shelter. Her parents are bright, enthusiastic and loving but faced the challenge of funding formula, diapers, blankets, clothing and child care with only a small income. At PATH Achieve they were given beds and case management and help finding an apartment of their own. Actually, that is where they live now.
A week after this photo was taken I heard that the little boy wearing the red cap had found housing along with his Dad. This is a huge deal. Even shelter placement for a male adult with a child is monumental. But now they have an apartment and I ran across this post today on the PATH Achieve blog.
Look at how happy he and his father are (The Photo belongs to PATH Achieve)
