| "It's not a lot of money, but I manage well. I have a room that I stay in. I eat well. It's great. I feel good," he said. The homeless are often victimized by others on the streets. They keep close watch on their meager possessions, stored in grocery carts, plastic bags or baby strollers. An increased police presence has cut crime in the neighborhood, but some critics accuse police of using heavy-handed methods. Captain Andy Smith says his officers walk a fine line between enforcing the law and acting as social workers. "These poor souls down here, especially women that are living in tents out here, are in a terrible situation for anybody to be in," he said. "So we do everything we can to get them into housing." "We do everything we can to get them into drug treatment, and try to help these poor souls down here get off the streets, get off the streets, out of these boxes, out of these tents, into some real housing," he added. Paul Tepper of the Weingart Development Corporation says the root problems are poverty, the soaring cost of housing in Los Angeles, and the lack of a social safety net for the very poor. He says the missions and other charities are helping. "It's as if you cut your hand at home. The first thing you do is clean the cut and put and Band-Aid on. That's the role of emergency shelters, to help people one by one to deal with the crises of their lives," he said. He says new government programs at the state and local level are also helping, but Los Angeles needs more affordable housing and better coordination in its social services. He says every level of government needs to be more involved in solving the problem of homelessness. |
