Waiting at the Canoga Park police department. Worth it.

I’m at the LAPD Canoga Park police station to file a trespassing and harassment and battery report with a freaked out client. We’ve waited an hour. I I’m going to say that that was totally worth the wait. We met my officer Hernandez he was very helpful. He explained restraining orders and trespass notices. He […]

Ummmm, not on the list

#2020LACountyHIConference , I registered but I’m “not on the list” so I’ve been told to wait in the lobby while everyone has breakfast. I am hoping that the poor planning of this LA County conference isn’t indicative of why we have a homeless crisis.

Mothering While Social Working

I. An Army of One (sorry US armed forces), but it feels right to say that. As a single mom, I’m the transportation and coordinating and some carer for a third grader. Being the more responsible part of her life givers (read, parents) this means she is on better hands with me than her father […]

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield and Homelessness

From Bob Blumenfield’s email updates … You might recognize a face in the back row Blumenfield Seeks Additional Funds for Homeless Intervention in Emergency Rooms On February 18 the City Council passed Councilmember Bob Blumenfield’s motion formally requesting funding for his initiative, the Homeless Housing and Recovery Project (HHRP) into the City’s grant […]

Bernie says Homelessness is about greed

In Nevada, Bernie says that homelessness is not a crime of the poor, but of the rich. https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/05/homelessness-symptom-greed-rich-says-bernie-sanders-not-crime-poor

Defining Homelessness

Homeless Unsheltered Living in public or private spaces without permission: Tents, cars, RVs, under bridges, etc. Plan – Connect to C.E.S. for Homeless Case Management. Call 211 for the local service provider. – Connect Pt to Medi-Cal – Consider Dept of Mental Health Eval – Connect to Dept of Social Services – Connect to Treatment […]

Homeless Connect Day in Chatsworth

This morning was the monthly health and service fair for homeless services . Would it be wrong to tell you how impressed I was with District 12 Councilman John Lee? Typically a few staff interns or members come to these events. John Lee had his entire office out in force. His chief of staff was […]

This blog is 14 years old

I can’t celebrate this. My hope was that by now it would be a memoir of a crisis conquered and ended. 14 years ago, in a birthday trip to Vegas with Bonnie and Isabel, I started a blog. It started in Blogger and eventually was migrated to WordPress. I man I was dating suggested I […]

Defining Homelessness

Surprise! Homelessness is a complicated issue, right down to who is homeless and what type of homeless situation they are experiencing. Unsheltered, Emergency Sheltered, Conditionally Sheltered, Unhappily/inappropriately housed… Here is a short explanation of each.

and not a pot to pee in

It happened to me this weekend. I was driving down the street when my stomach suddenly cramped. I looked down and saw the 32 ounces of Diet Coke were gone from my McDonalds’s cup and knew, just knew that I was about to have a bathroom emergency. I needed the loo, and badly. I shifted […]