#SEstreetlife photos- 5/24/2022

These four photos are ones I shot in 2021, while we were still in full Covid-19 restrictions mode.  What you see in the pic above is an actual homeless hammock set-up in a fucking tree.  I'd thought about doing this at times, but I'm a really fat dude these days, so it wasn't feasible.  This was right in front of where I had my storage unit, and pretty much unnoticed by most people.  Anyone remember Swiss Family Robinson?  This set-up didn't look that comfortable, but it was definitely creative.  Below is the same tree see from a short distance away.  Other than a sign this guy hung on the tree, most people, even those walking their dogs under the tree, didn't see this spot.  He had it up there, and actually slept up in the tree many nights, for about two months, I think.  There was a big homeless encampment right across the street at the time which is now all cleared out.

The tree with the homeless hammock in it, well hidden from sight.  2021.  #SEstreetlife, #steveemigphotos

The bag car.  There are many levels of homelessness, something I'll explain in more detail in a future post.  There are A LOT of people living in their cars these days, like in the movie Nomadland, but locally.  Many of these people do have jobs, but don't earn enough to pay rent, and all other bills, associated with having an apartment. This guys really needs a van.  OK, he needs an apartment, but he could use a van or bigger car in the meantime.  

The Park-N-Ride in my area turned into a Park-N-Live during the Covid era.  Here's an older limo, being used as a bedroom/storage unit, in one group's campsite.  This encampment, which had 6 to8 RV's and maybe 15 ramshackle huts, has been declared off limits to camping since.  Most of the people went into the local neighborhood, camping on the sidewalks, afterwards, and others when to the edge of the park, across the freeway from this site, which is in the East end of The Valley.  

I call this "Homeless Pinball."  A group of city leaders in one city will get the police and outreach workers to push homeless people out of an encampment site, which usually sends them right into the local neighborhood, a park, or other empty lots nearby.  Pretty much everyone from this encampment moved to new locations within 200 yards of this site, when pushed out.  But they weren't visible from the freeway, which is what mattered at the time.  Sweeping bums under the rug, and out of sight, so to speak.  Several months later, as we began to come out of the Covid restrictions, they were all pushed to move elsewhere.  Some may have got housing (local motels, then on a list for apartments, paid with tax dollars),  and some may have simply moved across city lines to another outdoor spot in a nearby city.  The only guy I really talked to got a motel room to stay in 30 minutes away.  

As we open up completely out of the Covid era, there's a massive push to get people into "housing," and get homeless people out of sight in L.A.  "Housing gives people a roof over their head, a bathroom, a shower, TV, and power to charge phones and other devices.  These people keep social program money, like EBT (food stamps), and other programs. most of the time.  But they wind up with very little money to live on for personal expeneses, and very little to do, but binge watch TV.  "Housing"  usually comes with curfews, searches of personal property, not having the key to your room (security lets you in in some cases) room searches, and bans on weed/cannabis, alcohol, and possibly cigarettes. which are all legal.  "Housing" leads to addiction and mental health programs, but rarely leads to  ever making an actual decent living,  where you can rent your own apartment again.  So even long term housing is still a temporary fix.  People going through these programs don't become what most people would consider "productive people" again.  

For those and other reasons, a lot of homeless people prefer to remain on the streets, which allows much more personal freedom.  There are a lot more nuances to these issues, which I'll probably dive into deeper in future posts.