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Veterans receive free resources at U.S. VETS Inglewood

WAVE NEWSPAPERS — Los Angeles County is currently grappling with a homeless crisis and statistics indicate that veterans in the county experience homelessness at a higher rate than the civilian population. Los Angeles County leads the way with the largest population of homeless veterans in the country.

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By Shirley Hawkins

INGLEWOOD — As the country celebrates Independence Day, thousands of military veterans who fought for their country are living under freeways, seeking refuge in shelters or simply surviving on the streets.

Los Angeles County is currently grappling with a homeless crisis and statistics indicate that veterans in the county experience homelessness at a higher rate than the civilian population. Los Angeles County leads the way with the largest population of homeless veterans in the country.

In January, volunteers from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority counted 3,874 veterans living in tents, cars or on the street.Approximately 2,800 veterans received housing last year in Los Angeles, but vets sleeping on the streets or in temporary shelters still increased by 12%.

Due to the extreme housing shortages and high rents in L.A. County, many veterans find themselves losing their residences. Statistics indicate that the same number of vets — 12% — fall into homelessness, many for the first time. The population of former military personnel living on the streets dropped by just 12 individuals between 2018 and 2019.

But the nonprofit U. S. VETS in Inglewood, located at 733 Hindry Ave., is on a mission to assist veterans with free services and to provide housing for as many veterans as possible.

U. S. VETS Inglewood Executive Director Akilah Templeton said she is dedicated to helping vets transition off the streets and move into permanent housing.

“It’s been quite a journey, but every day you have the opportunity to serve,” she said, adding, “Currently, we have 600 vets at the site and 225 of those are in transitional housing.”

U.S Vets opened its doors in 1993 with only five clients. Since then, it has grown to operate more than 600 beds and supplies both transitional and permanent housing. To date, the organization has served more than 10,000 veterans.Funds to run the facility are derived from local and federal funding, including funds from the Veterans Administration, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, several banks as well as individual and corporate donors.

Housed in an eight-story, white brick building, the nonprofit organization provides drug and alcohol counseling and free housing as well as comprehensive supportive services that include individual case management, employment assistance, job placement, psychological counseling and social activities. A workforce program helps more than 100 veterans return to employment each year.

Services include Veterans in Progress, which prepares veterans to obtain and maintain employment while providing comprehensive support including housing, counseling and basic needs.

The Fathers Program helps non-custodial fathers to become more emotionally and financially involved in their children’s lives and helps them find employment along with comprehensive support.

The High Barriers Program works with veterans who have additional obstacles to overcome in seeking employment including advanced age, a history of felonies and incarceration or long periods of unemployment.

The Substance Abuse Services Coordination Agency (SASCA) works in conjunction with a community parolee program to provide case management, substance abuse education and re-entry programs for veterans.

The Long-Term Supportive Housing program provides affordable, sober, service-enriched rental housing for vets with employment or other income such as disability payments.

Workforce Development offers career counseling, training, interviewing skills, job placement services and employment support.

Sixty-four year old Bobby Lee Marshall, a resident at U.S. VETS, said that the organization has been a godsend.

Born in Mississippi and raised in Arkansas, Marshall joined the U.S. Army. While traveling with his unit to Beirut, Lebanon, he got hurt and fell off a five-ton trunk.

“When I went home, my mother died and I started drinking,” he recalls. “I turned to alcohol and drugs. I came to California and lived on Skid Row. I was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and I slept in boxes on the street.

“A friend told me about U.S. VETS. He had been at his lowest ebb, but he had gone from zero to hero. He came back to see me on Skid Row and he looked and smelled good. He was working at the Veteran’s Administration. He said, ‘Hey, I’m at this place called U.S. VETS and you should come and check it out,’” Marshall said.

“I decided to try it too. When I got here, so many powerful things began to take place. I started working on myself, working to receive my benefits and started using the career center here. I started doing gardening on the grounds and that lifted my spirits.

“Now I’m back in touch with my family. It had been eight years since I had seen my family because I was pitying myself feeling ashamed about myself.”

Pausing, he said, “When vets go through these conflicts of war, it does something to the vet. A lot of times they come back home and the family cannot deal with them and they do not understand what happened to the vet.”

Marshall said the help he has received at U.S. VETS has been life transforming.

“It’s like a power touch, there’s something magical about U. S. Vets,” he said. “A vet can come here with zero and he goes to hero. You begin to feel good about yourself because they have powerful case management here.”

Templeton said that any vet can visit and learn about their services.

“A veteran can simply walk into our facility — no appointment is needed,” Templeton said.  “We even provide them with a lunch.

“Then they meet with our outreach counselors for a brief screening and assessment. Once we find out what their needs are, they are placed in an individual treatment program, so they receive supplemental services from day one.  If they need it, we can offer them an emergency shelter bed which allows us to house vets that may not have an honorable discharge, so we cover all the bases.”

Templeton said that U.S. VETS Inglewood is constantly reaching out to the community. Outreach workers take to the streets daily to search for veterans and to inform them about the free programs that are available.

“Many veterans are not aware that they qualify for an array of free services,” Templeton said. “I am shocked that so many veterans don’t know that we can offer them help. Every time I come face to face with a family member, a veteran or even an agency in the community, so many times they have no idea that these services at U.S. VETS exist.”

Templeton said that veterans enrolled in their programs range from young to old.

“We’re seeing a lot of younger guys coming into the program, but our senior population is rising,” she said. “Many have physical or mental health problems. We have a team of people working with them and we’re trying to meet the needs of that population.”

Templeton said the Inglewood community has really embraced U.S. VETS.

“Inglewood’s Mayor [James] Butts has been very supportive and very responsive to our needs. And the Inglewood Police Department has a homeless task force where they refer veterans to us who are living on the streets. They’re on the phone with us all the time and they are always reaching out.”

Pausing, Templeton added, “The Fourth of July is when we can all collectively enjoy our freedom. We have to remember why we are free and that is because of the sacrifices made by our service men and women and our veterans.”

U.S. VETS can be contacted by calling (310) 744-6533.

This article originally appeared in the Wave Newspapers

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An Inside Look into How San Francisco Analyzes Homeless Encampments

Dozens of unhoused people are camped at Sixth and Jesse streets in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. Tents made of tarps and blankets, piles of debris, and people lounging alongside the allies and walls of businesses are seen from all angles. These are some of the city’s hotspots. City crews have cleared encampments there over 30 times in the past year, but unhoused people always return.

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Since the ruling of Grants Pass by the US Supreme Court earlier this summer, which allows cities the authority to ban people from camping or sleeping on the streets, San Francisco has been at the head of the conversation to crack down on encampments.
Since the ruling of Grants Pass by the US Supreme Court earlier this summer, which allows cities the authority to ban people from camping or sleeping on the streets, San Francisco has been at the head of the conversation to crack down on encampments.

By Magaly Muñoz

Dozens of unhoused people are camped at Sixth and Jesse streets in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. Tents made of tarps and blankets, piles of debris, and people lounging alongside the allies and walls of businesses are seen from all angles.

These are some of the city’s hotspots. City crews have cleared encampments there over 30 times in the past year, but unhoused people always return.

But it’s normal to have tents set up again within less than 24 hours after an encampment sweep, David Nakanishi, Healthy Streets Operation Center Manager at the Department of Emergency Management, says. Sometimes there’s less people than before but often there is also no change.

“Most of the people that were in the encampments that want to go inside, we’ve gotten the majority of those [into shelter],” Nakanishi says. “Many of the people we encounter now, are those who have various reasons to not accept shelter, and some are already in shelter/housing”.

Since the ruling of Grants Pass by the US Supreme Court earlier this summer, which allows cities the authority to ban people from camping or sleeping on the streets, San Francisco has been at the head of the conversation to crack down on encampments.

Where neighboring cities in the Bay Area are clearing encampments a few days a week, San Francisco is sweeping 10 times a week, two per weekday.

David Nakanishi, Healthy Streets Operation Center Manager at the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, makes a 311 report on an encampment in the Mission District. These reports allow smaller city teams to tackle individual spots where unhoused people frequent. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

David Nakanishi, Healthy Streets Operation Center Manager at the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, makes a 311 report on an encampment in the Mission District. These reports allow smaller city teams to tackle individual spots where unhoused people frequent. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

Considering the controversy that plagues the city around its harsh policies, the Post decided to tag along on a ride with Nakanishi to show us how he decides what encampments make it on the city’s sweep list.

Nakanishi, having over 20 years of experience in homelessness management, drives around the busiest parts of the city almost daily. He’s tasked with arranging a weekly sweeping operation schedule for city teams to engage with unhoused folks to help get them off the streets.

So what exactly is he looking out for when deciding what encampments get swept?

It depends, he says.

Locations like schools, recreational centers, senior centers, or businesses are places he tends to want to address quickly, especially schools. These are the places where the complaints are highest and access to facilities is important for residents.

He says he also takes into account 311 calls and reports made to him by city staff. On the date of publication, over 100 calls and reports were made about encampments around the city, according to San Francisco data.

Makeshift structures built from plywood and tarps are starting to pop up more throughout the city. Certain areas under freeways are not under direct authority from San Francisco, making it harder to sweep these encampments. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

Makeshift structures built from plywood and tarps are starting to pop up more throughout the city. Certain areas under freeways are not under direct authority from San Francisco, making it harder to sweep these encampments. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

Nakanishi made a few 311 reports himself on the ride along, pulling over to take photos and describe the encampments into his 311 app. He says it helps him remember where to possibly sweep next or allows smaller teams in the city to engage quicker with individuals on the streets.

Nakanishi also looks at the state of the encampments. Are there a lot of bulky items, such as furniture, or makeshift structures built out of tarps and plywood, blocking areas of traffic? Is trash beginning to pile up and spill into the streets or sidewalks? Sites that meet this criteria tend to be contenders for encampment sweeps, Nakanishi says.

Street by street, he points out individuals he’s interacted with, describing their conditions, habits, and reasons for denying assistance from the city.

One man on 2nd St and Mission, who rolls around a blue recycling bin and often yells at passing pedestrians, has refused shelter several times, Nakanishi says.

People deny shelter for all kinds of reasons, he says. There’s too many rules to follow, people feel unsafe in congregate or shared shelters, or their behavioral and mental health problems make it hard to get them into proper services.

Inside a tent left by an unhoused man on Stevenson and 14th Street in San Francisco. The area smelled of human waste and leftover alcohol. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

Inside a tent left by an unhoused man on Stevenson and 14th Street in San Francisco. The area smelled of human waste and leftover alcohol. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

Nakanishi references another man on South Van Ness under the freeway, who city outreach have attempted to get into shelter, but his screaming outbursts make it difficult to place him without disturbing other people in the same space. Nakanishi says it might be an issue of the man needing resources like medication to alleviate his distress that causes the screaming, but the city behavioral team is in the process of outreaching him to figure that out.

In October, city outreach teams engaged with 495 unhoused people. 377 of those engaged refused shelter and only 118 accepted placements, according to city data. That number of monthly referrals is consistent throughout the entirety of 2024 so far.

Nakanishi has long advocated for the well-being of unhoused people, he explains. In 2004, he was working with the Department of Public Health and told then-Mayor Gavin Newsom that there needed to be more housing for families. Nakinishi was told it was easier to deal with individuals first and the city “will get there eventually.” 20 years later, family housing is still not as extensive as it could be, and the waiting list to get placements for families is a mile long with over 500 names.

In 2020, he was a Senior Behavioral Health Clinician at a hotel in the city during the pandemic. He says in 2021 he collaborated with DPH to provide vaccines to those staying in the makeshift hotel shelters once those became available.

Nakanishi strips apart a solo tent on Stevenson and 14th Street in San Francisco. He discards items, like tarps and cardboard, so that people cannot reuse them to make another sleeping structure. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

Nakanishi strips apart a solo tent on Stevenson and 14th Street in San Francisco. He discards items, like tarps and cardboard, so that people cannot reuse them to make another sleeping structure. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

Despite the constant media attention that city outreach is inhumanely treating homeless people, so much so that it has led to lawsuits against San Francisco from advocates, Nakanishi says not a lot of people are seeing the true conditions of some encampments.

He describes soiled clothing and tents, drenched in urine, and oftentimes rodents or bug infestations in places where people are sleeping. He’s asked homeless advocates- often those who are the most critical about the city’s work- who have shown up to observe the sweeps if those are conditions the city should allow people to be subjected to, but not many have answers for him, Nakanishi says.

The city’s “bag and tag” policy allows city workers to throw away items that are “soiled by infectious materials” such as bodily fluids and waste.

Sweep operations are conducted at 8am and 1pm Monday through Friday. People at the encampments are given 72 hour notice to vacate, but some don’t leave the area until the day of the sweep.

City outreach workers come out the day before and day of to offer resources and shelter to those interested. The Department of Public Works discards any trash that is left over from the sweep and washes down the area.

Nakanishi told the Post that the only time the city takes tents or personal possessions from residents is when folks become physically violent towards workers and police take the items as evidence. Other items taken are bagged and tagged in accordance with city policy.

Stories from local newspapers such as the San Francisco Standard and the Chronicle show instances of SFPD handcuffing residents while their items are thrown in the trash or disposing of personal possessions without reason.

Advocates have long been pushing for a more competent and compassionate process if the city is going to choose to continue sweeping unhouse people.

No matter the lawsuits and constant criticisms from allies, the encampment sweeps are not slowing down, even with the cold weather quickly approaching the coastal city.

Nakanishi says there aren’t a lot of large encampments left in San Francisco so now they do runs of streets in order to stretch out the sweeps as much as possible.

It’s calculated strategies and years of first hand knowledge that make this job work, “It takes dedication to the work, caring for the people and the community, and persistence, patience and sometimes good luck to make the positive changes for the people on the street,” Nakanishi says.

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Oakland Post: Week of November 13 – 19, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 13 – 19, 2024

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LIVE! — TOWN HALL ON RACISM AND ITS IMPACT — THURS. 11.14.24 5PM PST

Join us for a LIVE Virtual Town Hall on the Impact of Racism hosted by Post News Group Journalist Carla Thomas and featuring Oakland, CA NAACP President Cynthia Adams & other Special Guests.
Thursday, November 14, 2024, 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. PST

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Join us for a LIVE Virtual Town Hall on the Impact of Racism hosted by Post News Group Journalist Carla Thomas and featuring Oakland, CA NAACP President Cynthia Adams & other Special Guests.
Thursday, November 14, 2024
5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. PST

Discussion Topics:
• Since the pandemic, what battles have the NAACP fought nationally, and how have they impacted us locally?
• What trends are you seeing concerning Racism? Is it more covert or overt?
• What are the top 5 issues resulting from racism in our communities?
• How do racial and other types of discrimination impact local communities?
• What are the most effective ways our community can combat racism and hate?

Your questions and comments will be shared LIVE with the moderators and viewers during the broadcast.

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