Invisible People
Invisible People

Author Archives: Stephen Oduntan

Stephen Oduntan

Stephen Oduntan

Stephen Oduntan is a Los Angeles–based investigative journalist covering homelessness, housing policy, public health, and environmental justice. His reporting examines systemic accountability and the lived impact of policy decisions on frontline communities across the United States. His work on homelessness policy has been featured by the USC Homelessness Policy Research Institute.

The Hidden Crisis of Dying While Unhoused

The Hidden Crisis of Dying While Unhoused
The Dangerous Shift in How America Sees Homelessness

The Dangerous Shift in How America Sees Homelessness
When Emergency Care Access Is Out of Reach for Unhoused Patients

When Emergency Care Is Out of Reach for Unhoused Patients
A candlelight vigil symbolizes community grief following the death of Tyrah Adams, who was fatally injured during a Louisville cleanup operation. Advocates say stronger safety policies are urgently needed.

A ‘Routine Cleanup’ in Louisville Killed an Unhoused Woman
A Safe Parking LA sign marks the entrance to the Vanowen lot in Reseda, where people living in their vehicles can legally park overnight under a monitored program now facing proposed city funding cuts.

Safe Parking Lots Offer Stability to Working Angelenos Living in Cars. Budget Cuts Could End Them.
silence equals safety, nyc shelter

When Silence Feels Safer Than Speaking
Yvonne LeMon sits in her minivan in Philadelphia which served as her primary shelter before she entered a federally funded housing program.

When Housing Comes with an Expiration Date
Homeless: How Job Loss, Expiring Benefits, and Rigid Assistance Systems Pushed One Woman to the Brink Even as She Did Everything ‘Right’

Trying Not to Become Homeless
The Housing Crisis That Breaks Families Apart

The Housing Crisis That Breaks Families Apart
Job Loss is the Domino that Pushes People into Homelessness

Job Loss is the Domino that Pushes People into Homelessness
The System Sending Homeless Patients Back Into Crisis - empty hospital beds

The System Sending Homeless Patients Back Into Crisis
A mid-rise housing complex stands along a commercial corridor in South Los Angeles. Photo by Stephen Oduntan

Can Denser Housing Near Transit Solve California’s Affordability Crisis?
Jamie, center, a victim of patient dumping, poses with Jenn Elizabeth and Soma Snakeoil of The Sidewalk Project following an outreach visit in Los Angeles.

Documents Reveal Fatal Pattern of Patient Dumping at Los Angeles General Hospital
No more homeless deaths - Words Endanger Unhoused Lives

‘Just Kill Them’: Why Brian Kilmeade’s Words Endanger Unhoused Lives
A Lifeline for LA’s Homeless Mothers - Aviva family and children services

A Lifeline for LA’s Homeless Mothers
Patrick Hogan stands in a park in Anaheim after winning a rare small claims case against Caltrans for discarding his belongings during a sweep.

How One Man Beat Caltrans in Small Claims Court
California’s new Housing and Homelessness Agency aims to simplify the state’s fragmented housing systems.

California’s New Housing Agency Aims to Streamline Development—But Will It Deliver?
Parliament Vagrancy law UK Scraps its 1824 Vagrancy Act

One Nation Repeals a Cruel Vagrancy Law. Another Doubles Down