David Pirtle said he remembers finding himself freezing in the rain, completely surrounded from head to toe with rats while sleeping in an abandoned building on the streets of New York.
Pirtle, who was homeless for several years until November of 2006, and two other formerly homeless men and women shared their personal journey from being addicted to drugs and alcohol, to currently living clean and sober off the streets.
The panel of the three displaced women and men, including Pirtle, Rufus Hannah, and Arleen Melendez was hosted by members of the Student Activist Project on Monday night.
National Coalition for the Homeless program coordinator Michael O’Neill and L.A. Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness executive director Bob Erlenbusch also spoke at the event.
“There are 90,000 homeless people on any given night in the city of Los Angeles,” Erlenbusch said.
Usually, when people think of Los Angeles and homelessness, they immediately think of Skid Row, but homelessness is not just a Skid Row crisis; rather, it’s a regional crisis in the Greater Los Angeles area, he added.
In South Los Angeles alone, the ratio of beds in homeless shelters to homeless people on the street is 1 to 50, with an estimated 16,000 homeless people in the area, Erlenbusch said. He added that the statistics are worse in the East San Gabriel Valley with 137 homeless people to one bed.
“A lot of people are not aware of the greater issues,” said Christina Reggio, who helped plan and organize the Student Activist Project event. “We are providing ways to change things.”
She said the main point of the event was to break stereotypes about homeless individuals.
“People will see that the homeless are actual real people, not to be kicked to the curb,” Reggio said.
Hannah spoke about his experiences being abused by strangers who pushed him in a shopping cart down a flight of concrete stairs.
Hannah, who was an alcoholic, said he did anything to make a few dollars, which he ended up spending on beer and vodka. He also mentioned his extensive abuse by teenagers filming him when he was drunk.
Now, Hannah has been sober for five years, and he is currently working to promote and advocate for legislation to stop abuse of homeless people everywhere.
Hannah also commented that students should help write letters and e-mails to local government officials and senators in support of such legislation.
Melendez, who also spoke as a panelist, concluded her personal homelessness story in tears.
“In elementary school, I wrote I would help the homeless, and now I’m finally doing it,” she said.
Stereotypes of homeless people as being lazy, choosing to be homeless, not having any education, and having bad hygiene were also addressed.
Some students who attended the said it helped them realize how much the problem affects current community issues.
Gloria Lam, a fourth-year international development studies student said the speakers humanized those that are living on the streets and reminded her that social change is necessary.
“Through awareness and education, (our) old norms need to change,” said Lam. She added that the change has to be a way of life.