I have been following the web series “On the Streets” hosted by LA Times contact reporter Lisa Biagiotti as they finish up there twelfth video session to close up the series. Biagiotti seeks out her neighbors Wanda, and more recently, Pepper who have been on the streets for years. Wanda and Biagiotti are close acquaintances ever since Biagiotti struck a conversation with her as Wanda was digging through her recycle bin. Since then, Wanda gives Biagiotti information on her life, and the reality of living on the streets. It was so interesting to see a reporter genuinely interested in the lives of those not spoken for generally in the news.

Wanda in this video introduced Biagiotti to her friend Pepper who had spent years in jail, and on the streets but now is a self-employed truck driver doing well for himself. He was very proud and referred to himself as the “mayor of Skid Row” at one point. He is the only one I believe in the “On the Streets” web series episodes that I have seen that has been self-employed and got himself off the streets.

What I love about these web series episodes is that while Biagiotti is learning aspects of homelessness from her friends and neighbors, she uses this to portray the reality of homelessness to the audience.

She also exposes the situation of her friend Wanda who walks around all day recycling and collecting bottles so she can collect her average of $22.00 a day from the recycling company. Wanda has arthritis in her legs and as Biagiotti notes she has a “swagger” about her because of this. She has no SSI although she has been waiting for the request to be approved. Once she gets the SSI Wanda should be able to at least provide enough support for herself so that she doesn’t have to walk all day long in pain. Situations like this make me confused about why there aren’t programs out there that do more community outreach to find people who need the necessary resources.