Now a policy director for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Jitahidi said his time in that vehicle as a kid with his stepfather, mother and newborn brother taught him about the harsh realities of homelessness.
Jitahidi’s stepfather worked despite being homeless— often conjuring up unique ways to shower and brush his teeth every morning. There were even days when local Navy men would take Jitahidi’s family to their base and provide some food and clothes and drop them back off at the car that served as their pseudo-home.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”300px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Screen-Shot-2016-11-18-at-10.24.24-AM.png” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”Jaylene Westfall, board secretary with the Long Beach Area Coalition for the Homeless and residential services supervisor for the Century Villages of Cabrillo, said at a Nov. 12 panel discussion that she is supportive of all the staff members who follow the village’s mission to provide an increased feeling of community within the neighborhood. The village consists of former homeless people. ” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off”] “When you are black and homeless in the age of Reagan, I don’t see it getting any worse than that,” he said. “I remember those days… I lived it… More importantly, I survived it.”
His family’s homelessness was not a result of drugs or crime, he said, but the nation’s economic instability.
Jitahidi’s story is one of many that was discussed at a panel discussion on homelessness on Nov. 12 at the Long Beach Public Library. The League of Women Voters hosted the event in an effort to provide a better understanding of the issue by reviewing coordinated efforts made by experts and gathering community input to determine how residents can address the problem.
The meeting was the inaugural event of the league’s newly formed Committee on Homelessness, a group of members dedicated to volunteering their support for those working within the homeless community to study and explore solutions on the issue.
Kim Ritter, president of the League of Women Voters, moderated the event.
Members of the audience used note cards to submit questions to the panel after the discussion.
Steve Be Cotte, community outreach manager with the Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA), oversees the relationship between the DLBA and city residents to ensure the programs and services appropriately reflect the needs of the community.
The key, he said, is finding a way to effectively connect with homeless people. In the past, individuals would be inclined to “shoo” them away to get them out of sight. Be Cotte said that doesn’t work anymore— it never did.
“The only thing you can do is offer somebody some hope, because they haven’t got any,” he said. “They are part of the fabric of our community. And if we just say, ‘Let’s get rid of those people. We don’t want those people. I’m afraid of those people,’ you are never going to solve the problem.”
When some homeless individuals were displaced due to construction around Lincoln Park earlier this year, the DLBA created signs warning people that the park would be closing. The signs had a list of services and alternative locations for restrooms.
Every now and then, the DLBA would practice outreach
efforts in the area and survey homeless people about giving them assistance with their problems. Be Cotte said the efforts have been successful.
He admitted that some people might say the homeless issue is not their problem, adding how some individuals point the finger at local police or human services, claiming that those institutions don’t do anything.
“Here is the thing— either you are part of the solution, and you got some skin in the game and do it, or don’t bitch at me,” he said. “That’s my rule… This is not a police problem. This is a public-health problem. This is a mental-health problem. This is a social-abuse program. Really, homelessness is just a result of all these different things that have happened to these folks. If you just look at it and say that you don’t want to be a part of it, you’re just making it worse.”
Elsa Ramos, Multi-Service Center (MSC) coordinator with the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), said the leading causes of homelessness include unemployment, increased costs of living, physical- and mental-health issues, substance abuse, domestic violence and crime, according to DHHS statistics.
The Multi-Service Center, a public service from the department that seeks to rebuild the lives of homeless people, provides help for an average of 1,100 each month, for a total of 13,829 clients, Ramos said. The center serves as one of the primary entry locations for homeless services. Available amenities include showers, health assessments, transportation and shelter referrals.
Tara Reed, director of the Homeless Innovations Program (HIP) with Mental Health America of Los Angeles (MHA), said the agency assists people who have the intent of recovery. The services are voluntary, and the people who attend need to want them.
“I’ve met a few people who I know need help,” Reed said. “I know they really, really need help. But I can’t force them.”
She said the No. 1 predictor of improved health outcomes for people living on the streets is simply having a place to stay. The goal is “for them to not have a house, but a home.”
Housing can be found locally at the Century Villages of Cabrillo, a 27-acre campus community that is centered around the idea of eliminating homelessness.
Many individuals housed at the village include veterans who served in the Vietnam War era.
“We are really providing a safe, healthy environment for young families and children,” said Rene Castro, director of community engagement with the Century Villages at Cabrillo (CVC). “This is not an institutional environment. This is just another neighborhood… It developed organically. It’s evolved into something special. It’s really a national model.”
Those at the village, in theory, can live there indefinitely. Residents can be there as long as they want to be, Castro said. All locals pay subsidized rent to stay in the complex.
One-hundred-twenty new units are due in the spring, Castro added.
Jaylene Westfall, board secretary with the Long Beach Area Coalition for the Homeless and residential services supervisor for CVC, said she is supportive of all the staff members who follow the village’s mission to provide residents the engagement necessary to promote participation and an increased feeling of community within the neighborhood.
Castro said the village houses a little over 2,000 residents as of 2015, according to statistics. Sixty-one percent of those residing in the shelters move on to permanent housing. Moreover, 99 percent of those who did move on to permanent housing remained there for six months or longer.
Of the 2,000-plus residents at the CVC, 1,412 of them are adults, and 667 of them are children, according to Castro.
Someone who benefitted greatly from services in the community is Dale Neal, facilities manager with the Long Beach Rescue Mission and former homeless person.
He was without a home for almost 12 years— “After 10, I started to lose track. I didn’t worry about it anymore,” he added jokingly. He was an alcohol and meth addict.
He eventually went through the Long Beach Rescue program, a faith-based organization with private funding. The facility can only be accessed through referral from the MSC.
“It’s an amazing program,” he said. “The last 11 years that I have been there and being a part of helping it change and getting it to where it’s at today has been amazing. I loved it. Every bit of it.”
The nonprofit offers a multitude of programs— primarily, a one-year plan that focuses on helping individuals and assisting with life skills, finances and legal troubles.
“During that year, we are teaching them how to live life again,” he said.
BeCotte said effectively helping homeless people in the long term boils down to how it’s done. He said, “you enable the homeless person, not the homeless lifestyle.”
People bring food and clothing to assist homeless people, but the key is getting them support, Be Cotte stressed. Simply getting them food could be an open window for homeless people to trade in a hotdog for drugs or sex.
“When you see a young guy get food and take it to a girl who is strung out, feed her and then they go to the handicap bathroom, that’s one of the most horrible things you’ll see in your life,” he said. “And I’ve seen it… I’ve seen people truly want to help, but how do you [provide] help that supports that mission? That’s one of the hardest things for people to understand.”
