Men and women struggling for survival beneath the city’s wealthy high-rises and skyscrapers shed light on challenges faced by the homeless community in a new film, “WE, the Vulnerable of L.A.”
Screened Dec. 4 at the Keck Auditorium at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in South L.A., the film depicts those struggling on the streets, who gave firsthand accounts. The idea is to show local politicians and those empowered to help the homeless community what is undeniable, said producer Francisco Pérez. It was directed by Diego Sapienza.
According to the 2024 Los Angeles Homeless Count, an estimated 75,312 people were experiencing homelessness on any given night in Los Angeles County.
Among them, Michael Henry, 24, who is featured in the film. He manages to make his way, but needs housing, mental health therapy, food, and job placement. He is shown doing small ‘donuts or circles on his mini-bike in front of Granada on Broadway, the outreach center where he has volunteered for the last three years. The center offers support groups for dependency issues and programs such as rehabilitation outreach, HIV testing, counseling, support groups, and health fairs.
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“A lot of the jobs I apply for, they tell me, ‘Oh, you’re not fit for this job or you don’t have the experience or we’re not looking,’ but the whole time they say they’re not looking, they’re hiring a different person, just because I’m a minority,” stated Henry. He does handy work and does all types of things, he said. He builds different things, cuts grass, paint, all just to survive.
Melisa Haynes is crying when first enters the frame. “Angry. Lost. Fears loneliness. Alone,” she stated. No one cares, she said, and she doesn’t talk to her family much. She does not go into why, but she speaks about the need to feel secure and safe, which she often does not.
Sometimes, fights have broken out in places where she’s been sheltered, which has led to write-ups and evictions. “And where do you go from there? Do they just put you out on the street or do they help you get into another shelter,” she questioned.
Lisa Smith, who said her community is a safe area, “if you mind your business,” said she had to ensure a lot just to even go to a shelter. “I like doing me and I don’t like taking instructions from others, because I’m a mother and I don’t like being bossed,” she said. She takes long walks and reminisces of when she once lived in a house and worked at Charles Drew and King Hospital. But she fell into the streets and drugs after a failed marriage, she said.
Too often, many are forced to choose between immediate needs and life-saving surgeries. They go for the immediate hunger, shelter, depression – and inability to address the other leads to alcohol and substance abuse, said Perez, during the film.
“The problem is getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and the same people get funding, and not necessarily the ones that are making a difference,” said Pérez, who has worked with the homeless crisis for 30 years. “We still have the same problems, yet the funding is not coming to South Central, small agencies,” he argued.
“For us, it’s bringing the actual resources, bringing TAP cards (for public transportation) outside, shoes, donations, food, bringing the actual ‘I needs’, it’s a tangible thing,” stated film participant, Ana Moncada, executive director of Advanced HealthCare Administration.
“People in this community, based upon the Violence Statistics Report, have some of the highest morbidity mortality for all of the major health indicators, such as heart disease, lung disease, cancer, hypertension, high rates of STI (sexually transmitted infections), and substance use,” stated Cynthia Davis, MPH, Assistant Professor in the College of Medicine and College of Science and Health at Drew University.
In addition to food insecurity issues and the scarcity of grocery stores with fresh produce and foods, the area suffers with a subs-standard educational system. “You have young people in this community who have graduated from high school who can’t read,” said Davis, who is also Domestic Vice Chair of AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Board of Directors.
“It’s just a reflection, a mirror, of what’s happening in the major cities across this county in terms of Black and Brown people and them trying to survive in a society that’s based on structural and institutionalized racism,” added Davis.
Granada on Broadway Outreach Center recommends, among other things, including vulnerable members of the community in decision making, educating the public about the needs of the homeless population to decrease stigma, increase funding for small agencies to address immediate needs of the vulnerable, and expanding university programs to offer free dental services in those communities.
Henry is seen in the film’s conclusion, sitting on his minibike, overlooking tracks as a railroad passes by, though he said he feels invisible, like a ghost as people just walk past him. He desires more programs that would enable him to live like a regular human being.
“Right now, I feel like an animal, a person that just don’t have a life, like I don’t matter. But I want to feel like someone that matters. I want to feel important,’ he said on screen.
What would help him feel seen is basically what anyone else would want, he elaborated during the panel discussion.
“Don’t judge me. Everybody judges people because of their appearance, but when you judge somebody, you’re not just judging that person. You’re also judging yourself,” said Henry, who views people like that as hypocrites.
“Why judge me when you can just help me to be the better person that I want to be? Instead of putting me down, lift me up,” he said.
