We’ve gone over and over about how there isn’t enough housing for homeless people, that there needs to be more transitional housing, and it needs to be available to those who need it. Well with L.A. County officials spending millions of dollars, and promising to spend more on transitional and permanent housing programs they’ve been able to help someone out! James Lonon was homeless for a year until Marsha Temple and her colleagues at Integrated Recovery Network were able to get him his own room in a six-bedroom apartment near USC as well as a part-time job just before the recent homeless count. He has a bachelor’s degree from Cal State Long Beach and after losing a nine-year job as a clerk became homeless in 2014 when his unemployment benefits ran out. While on the streets Lonon was a very active homeless man; when Carla Hall (author of the article) met him on a bench in November of 2015 she noticed he was quite good at meeting new people and making money for himself. He had a cellphone, an email address, and a storage unit. He spent most of his time trying to get a room because he did not want to go to a shelter, and had turned down an offer for a regimented group living arrangement. In the article he says, “All the people out here in Santa Monica – it would seem like they would have an empty room that they would offer to someone, it’s just a waiting game – waiting for the right person who will respond to that type of request.” The main thing that stood out to me in this article was Lonon’s refusal to go to a shelter and regimented living arrangement. What makes these options unattractive to homeless people? There is the factor of shame, but I think that’s just another way of saying our current solutions just aren’t good enough, nor do I think it is the only reason why people don’t want to sleep at shelters. I think answering the above question can help us determine how we can improve our shelters, and ways shelters can work with transitional housing agencies to get a steady stream of people in to the shelters, and from there in to transitional/permanent housing.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-street-journey-homelessness-20160204-story.html