Invisible People is now partnering with video journalist Crystal Fambrini to augment our journalism initiative to publish video news stories on homelessness and related topics. CLICK HERE to watch the video.
Under a cloak of secrecy, Los Angeles’s Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell used police action with park repair claims to forcibly remove hundreds of homeless people living in tents at Echo Park Lake. While midnight crews erected a fence around the park, around four hundred housed protestors showed up to protect their unhoused neighbors. LAPD arrested 182 protesters, including five reporters and legal observers. The cost to taxpayers of this police action may be over a million dollars!
While Los Angeles politicians try to spin that they housed 200 people, the truth is the majority of homeless people were placed in temporary hotels while many were displaced to other parts of the city. According to Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the resources used for temporary hotel placements were initially allocated to vulnerable homeless people, putting them at far greater risk. The criminalization of homelessness does and is extremely expensive to taxpayers.
This video features a homeless family with two adorable children. The transgender mom lost her job as a chef when the pandemic hit. While this family needs housing, the Echo Park Lake homeless community provided a safe place for the family and their children. The police action at Echo Park Lake displaced this homeless family to another part of Los Angeles.
Your voice can help end homelessness. If we do not fix the affordable housing crisis, homelessness will continue to get worse. Click here to tweet, email, call, or Facebook your federal and state legislators to tell them ending homelessness and creating more affordable housing is a priority to you.
