Last year my neighbor three houses down from me, 31 year old Gabe Donnay, was brutally murdered by a homeless individual who took a knife from his own house and stabbed him in his backyard. Just last week Brianna Kupfer, a UCLA student was murdered in cold blood by a homeless individual while she was working at The Croft House, a local business to my neighborhood. On the same block that my neighbor was murdered, there is now a homeless encampment, where there are several tents and just last week there was a grand theft auto and home invasion tied to this encampment as well as stolen goods from a local smash and grab inside the encampment. My family as well as surrounding neighbors do not feel safe walking in my neighborhood anymore, as there are homeless encampments every two blocks in my neighborhood. Many women in my neighborhood do not even leave the house after sundown because of the fear of being raped, mugged, or murdered.

Frustrated and wanting to help the people in these encampments as well as wanting to protect my neighbors, I tired to find someone who could help my neighborhood. I called the State, LA county, LA city council, LAPD, and countless other agencys all giving me the same response: we are sorry about your situation, but we cannot help you. The only people who agreed to meet with me was LAPD senior lead, who told me there was nothing they could do to help these people. It is estimated that there are around 70,000 homeless people in Los Angeles and the fact is, there is absolutely NO ONE in our government tasked with helping the people who have fallen victim to homelessness. According to the LA times, around 80% of the people on the street suffer from mental illness as well as drug addiction and need help from professionals. I have talked to neighbors, local business owners, and community members who are frustrated, hopeless, and scared. I have talked to both democrats and republicans, and EVERY SINGLE PERSON AGREES that this issue has to be addressed. 

I am calling on Los Angeles city, with the help of the state and federal government, to create a task force SPECIFICALLY to help the homeless situation in Los Angeles. The proposed task force will work on homeless outreach, temporary housing, and connect those once in housing with jobs. I am also calling on Los Angeles city to create zones in abandon parks, unincorporated buildings and military bases, as well as abandon parking lots to allow homeless to stay in and ban homeless from living in residential neighborhoods. It is my goal to help the citizens who need it, and protect my neighbors.