Working on it: A panel discussion
Story by Samantha Bravo
Photos by Logan Bik
These activists, advocates and service providers are actively seeking solutions for people experiencing homelessness.
Those experiencing homelessness are often viewed or represented as a stereotype in the media. They aren’t given the opportunity to let their voices be heard and in results, are often being painted as a burden.
An open panel organized by CSUN journalism professor David Blumenkrantz on Feb. 4 brought activists, advocates, and service providers seeking solutions for people experiencing homelessness, to speak to his Scene magazine students, journalism students, and anyone interested in the discussion.
Stories were shared by individuals experiencing homelessness, what outreach workers do and what community members do to be more involved.
Guest speakers included Paul Read, Jane Nguyen, Manny Flores, Rita Dunn, Brooke Carrillo, Kathy Huck, Leticia Colchado, Carinne Ho, Laura Rathbone, General Jeff Page, Theodore Henderson, Minister Roger Williams II and Vinny D’Averso.
Advocating for affordable housing was Kathy Huck with “About My Father’s Business” from Chatsworth. They provide families in the West San Fernando Valley with meals and basic necessities and assistance in gaining access to shelter and permanent housing.
“A lot of the people here on this panel have influenced me in the work that I do,” Huck said. “I first began homeless advocacy at home with my mother, because homelessness has been around for quite a while.”
Huck, who is also a web designer, stressed the importance of giving the unhoused the ability to vote.
“This is so easy, you can vote online like that, you don't need an ID, if you're unhoused, you just need your nearest cross street,” Huck said. “I think that is something we can all do together ... you can get anyone registered to vote.”
Huck said their mission is to provide people with basic necessities such as shoes, socks, backpacks, tents, sleeping bags and food.
“We all have been homeless, and we need to treat others the way we want to be treated,” Huck said.
One of the panelists currently experiencing homelessness is Brooke Carrillo. She shared stories on her experiences and the way law enforcement treats homeless people.
“If the police are standing behind them, it isn’t intimidation, stand up for yourself,” Carrillo said. “This is your property. These are your things. If it’s trash, and they ask you, is that trash? You can say no. They are not allowed to touch. If it is trash, you can tell them to take it.”
“They towed our vehicles, all three of them, they were all registered, all insured, all titles, all running, they towed it all,” she said. “Cost us $3,000 to get it back, it was the last of our money.”
“General” Jeff Page, the unofficial mayor of Skid Row, said terms used in the media are condescending and he thinks journalists should avoid certain language:
“The term ‘homeless’ should be avoided, we’re homeless people, we’re not the homeless, we’re not a thing, we’re people. Just like on Skid Row versus, in Skid Row.”
Loraine Lundquist, a candidate running for Los Angeles City Council, attended the panel and said anyone who is living here understands the crisis and hearing stories from individuals experiencing it is important.
“We have thousands of people living on our streets and dying on our streets everyday and it’s incredibly important especially to hear from folks who experienced, people who are unhoused and what brought us to this point and what the potential solutions are,” Lundquist said. “It is a complicated problem, but at the same time it is solvable, it is possible.”
Page said he constantly gets approached with people asking how they can help and he always asks them, “Well, what can you do?”
“People have to start asking themselves, how much time do you have?” Page said. “I usually give the number three. Do you want to give three seconds, do you want to help for three minutes, three days, three weeks, three months? So like on a project, how much time do you have to cover a story, if you only have three seconds to cover a story, you’re only doing the lightweight stuff, so don’t start a story you can’t finish. There’s two sides to every story.”
Blumenkrantz said having guest speakers with firsthand experience and knowledge on this topic is something he couldn’t have conveyed even with his own knowledge and several years of documentary and education work on issues related to homelessness.
“I cast a really wide net, and (the turnout) showed they liked what we’re doing here at CSUN with the homeless issue; they all respect it enough to come here and represent their different organizations and viewpoints,” Blumenkrantz said. “I’m sure the students who were open to it, got a really good experience.”
