LA's Growing Epidemic

           Flashback to late August 2012: the start of my freshman year at Loyola Marymount University. Now a senior preparing to graduate, the memory of my first day at LMU is a blurred compilation of monotonous orientations and organized activities. One such event, however, vividly sticks out in my mind among the rest. I do not recall the name of professor who gave the presentation, nor its location on campus, but its subject matter has remained with me throughout these four years; homelessness in Los Angeles. What this professor attempted to achieve in a short 30 minutes in front of hundreds of gleaming freshmen was to paint a picture of what he described as an epidemic. Not until I had settled in to my new home and explored my surroundings did I truly understand the scope of the problem he presented.

            As a resident of Los Angeles for the last four years, the presence of the homeless population has become as much of a fixture in my daily life as round-the-clock traffic and palm trees. Until recently I had not given this much attention, merely dismissing it as an unfortunate reality of the world we live in. As of late, however, I have begun to look more seriously at the issue and realize its severity. The homeless problem is not merely a static phenomenon that has yet to be resolved, it is a growing epidemic that has only gotten significantly worse in recent years. In the last two years alone, the homeless population in Los Angeles has jumped 12%, with more than 44,000 homeless countywide, up from 39,000 in 2013. Areas like Venice and Skid Row are now homeless epicenters, transformed into makeshift refugee camps for the most forgotten of Los Angeles’s citizens. The city's affordable housing fund, which in 2008 totaled $108 million, plunged to $26 million in 2014 and political support to reallocate funds to this dwindling supply has been stagnant.

            Experts blame the ballooning cost of rent, low wages and stubbornly high unemployment for the recent spike in the homeless demographic. However, it is not merely institutional factors that have contributed to the silent embedding of homelessness as one of LA’s calling-cards. As the homeless population continues to grow and become more a part of our daily lives, we become desensitized and indifferent to their plight. Los Angeles is infamous as a town of luxury and excess, of glamour and indulgence. It is tragically ironic that it also boasts one of the most vibrant homeless populations in the country. While the ability to redistribute the resources necessary to stem this problem lies with the government, the onus lies on the people of Los Angeles to stop living in ignorance. I, myself, am as much to blame as the rest of Los Angelinos for allowing the homeless epidemic to develop into its current deplorable state. The task may seem daunting, but the most powerful vehicle for social change and political action still manifests itself in the people. So often we underestimate the gravity of small deeds such as spending an afternoon at a local food bank or passing out meals to the hungry, but it is exactly deeds like these that signal to others that the struggle to end homelessness is not a losing battle to be omitted, but an ongoing fight desperate for momentum.