Homelessness at Echo Park

Homelessness Within the Echo Park Community During COVID-19

        

        As defined on the website, youth.gov, civic engagement is how one "works to make a difference in the civic life of one's community and develops the combination of knowledge, skill, values, and motivation to make that difference" (Ehrlich, 2003). The American Psychological Association on the other hand, defines civic engagement as, an "individual and collective action designed to identify and address issues of public concern" (2009). For me, civic engagement is whereby individuals or groups participate in things that foster the inquiry/understandings of an issue. It is this collective that may eventually lead to the facilitation of a positive change. The people involved may be experts within the field as well as curious volunteers. There doesn't necessarily have to be immediate change as sometimes creating a better understanding and spreading awareness of the issue is enough. It may take years for something small to change for the better.

One social issue in particular that has been increasingly prominent, especially near my home is homelessness. Although this topic is nothing new, the current pandemic While homelessness is a complex problem with many causes, the high costs of housing is a significant factor in the state’s homelessness crisis. has undoubtedly highlighted the instability of permanent housing living in California, especially in the LA County. While homelessness is a complex problem with many causes, the high costs of housing is a significant factor in the state’s homelessness crisis. Rising housing costs that have exceeded growth in wages, particularly for low‑income households, put Californians at risk of housing instability and homelessness. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, State of Homelessness dashboard, there were 151,278 people homeless on a given night in 2019. Within Los Angeles County, there were 56,257 people homeless. "The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released the results of the 2020 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, which showed 66,436 people in Los Angeles County experiencing homelessness. This represents a 12.7% rise from last year’s point-in-time count. The city of Los Angeles saw a 16.1% rise to 41,290" as stated on the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority homeless count summary webpage. Recently in the end of March, Los Angeles Councilman Mitch O'Farrell, arranged for the closure of Echo Park Lake after a large homeless encampment developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. On average, renters in L.A. are paying 47% of their income for rent. The average rent for an apartment in Los Angeles County is about $2,300 per month. Thus, a working family needs to earn nearly $42 per hour ($87,880 per year) to afford the average rent in Los Angeles. It is not a surprise that with the pandemic, many residents in the Los Angeles, Echo Park area would be displaced and evicted.

As someone who has lived a block away from Echo Park my entire life, the increasing amounts of homeless individuals in the park is of concern for me. As empathetic as I am towards the individuals, there is a level of safety and cleanliness that I would like, not only for the public and I but also for the homeless. With the influx of homeless tenants, there were multiple instances where people have slept on the driveway of my house as well as my neighbors. As much as I want to help them, I have to make sure they don’t encroach upon my house with a concern for my family’s safety and health concerns. If there isn’t a remedy for the homeless crisis, the problem may inevitably become too big to fix as more tenants live closer and closer to residential homes. I have personally seen how terrible the homeless encampments at McArthur Park can be. It would be heartbreaking if the issue of homelessless were to grow and subsequently negatively impact the new renovations that Echo Park just had. This would certainly cost the city unnecessary amounts of money and resources to fix all over again. If we can somehow find permanent solutions to this issue, it would possibly save the city much more on renovations and maintenance in the long run. Furthermore, as a nursing student, there is a definite concern for public health that factors in. Those that are homeless are more at risk/vulnerable of infection, diseases, & comorbidities. Given their living conditions and close proximity to the public (park attendees) there is a definite risk of spreading disease, as feared by public health officials alike during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finding permanent housing solutions would definitely benefit the issue of public health safety as well as the personal wellbeing of the homeless. 

This issue of homelessness is important to me because I have lived in Echo park my entire life. I have watched the government pour out $45 million in its 3 year renovation in 2011 to what it is now. Los Angeles is notorious for having some of the highest housing costs in the country and the recent COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated housing issues and homelessness. With countless Californians becoming unemployed and the outrageous housing costs, it was inevitable that tenants around the Echo Park community be evicted. With the renovation of the park, it is without a doubt that the homeless would choose this location to live at---safe and clean for the most part. With the influx of homeless individuals to the newly renovated park over the years, many attendees of the park have raised concern, including Mitch O’Farrell, the Councilmember of the 13th District. I appreciated the fact that Instead of simply evicting the homeless tenants of Echo Park, they were given the opportunity to stay at the LA Grand Hotel, which was funded to house the homeless through Project Roomkey implemented by Gov. Gavin Newsom. However, we do not know how long this project is expected to stay funded and in full operation. Being educated on this complex multifaceted issue allows the community to bring about discourse, awareness, and change. So I urge you to do some research on the topic here, especially if you are an Angelino and help advocate for the homeless tenants because this issue may affect the people you know.

        I don't think my understanding of civic engagement has changed that much by participating in this assignment. Although I was not able to actually go out and physically do something, this assignment still allowed me to further educate myself, and hopefully some other classmates, on homelessness within Los Angeles. I definitely was surprised by the amount of activists and protesters who were in support of the Echo Park tenants. If I were to redo this assignment, I would have wanted to go to interview some of the tenants of Echo Park. I would like to get to know them better, their story, and why some would be hesitant from living in an actual place with 4 walls and a ceiling.

                                                                      References

2020 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count Results. Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority . (2020, June 12). https://www.lahsa.org/news?article=726-2020-greater-los-angeles-homeless-count-results. 

2020 HOMELESS COUNTY BY CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT. Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. (n.d.). https://www.lahsa.org/data?id=44-2020-homeless-county-by-city-council-district. 

Causes & Solutions to Homelessness. LA Family Housing. (n.d.). https://lafh.org/causes-solutions. 

Civic Engagement. (2009). Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://www.apa.org/education/undergrad/civic-engagement

Homelessness. (n.d.). Confronting the Crisis. Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. https://www.lamayor.org/Homelessness. 

Oreskes, B., Smith, D., Reyes, E. A., & Wick, J. (2021, March 25). It's the endgame for the Echo Park homeless encampment. https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2021-03-25/echo-park-homeless-encampment-protests-target-lapd. 

State of Homelessness. National Alliance to End Homelessness. (2020, May 13). https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness-dashboards/?State=California. 

United States. (n.d.). Youth.gov. Retrieved March 5, 2021, from https://youth.gov/youth-topics/civic-engagement-and-volunteering