Memorial For People Who Have Died While Homeless Turns Into March For Action
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A memorial was held Friday for homeless people who recently died on downtown's Skid Row, but the event quickly turned into a rally urging the city to create more housing for those living on the streets.
The Los Angeles Community Action Network and the organization Services Not Sweeps hosted the San Julian Park memorial.
"We're out here today with our partners across the city of Los Angeles saying `no' to three deaths per day," LACAN spokesperson Pete White said. "We're saying the city has other options. Instead of aggressive policing, put that money into housing."
The march comes days after a man living on the streets was found dead outside City Hall in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday morning. Homeless advocates and city leaders said this latest death highlights the severity of the city's homelessness crisis.
White said the advocates decided to march downtown to draw attention to the seriousness of Los Angeles' homeless crisis, and he said the city needs to explore cheaper options to housing people. He said his organization wants to pressure the City Council to open property the city owns for public housing.
The march included about 100 people and delayed traffic at times as it moved through downtown toward City Hall where the most recent death occured.
"We thought it was important to return to the scene of the crime because it is these two buildings that make three lives perishing a day a possibility," White told the crowd.
According to the federal government, the nation's homeless population is up by 2.7 percent and California is to blame. An annual count that took place in January showed that the homeless population nationwide grew for the consecutive.
Just this year alone, 963 people have died while living on the streets. Last year it was more than 1,000. And Bales said it all comes down to a lack of housing, something the city and county have been working to fix.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development said the increase was caused entirely by a 16.4 percent increase in California's homeless population.
According to Gov. Newsom, the state has invested an unprecedented $1 billion to help communities fight homelessness.
