Downtown Los Angeles Homeless Population Essay

In Downtown Los Angeles, there is a large homeless population. In the 2017 Homeless Count Results, it was found that a total of 57,794 individuals are homeless within Los Angeles (LAHSA, 2017). Out of these homeless individuals, 74%, 42,828 individuals were unsheltered and 26% (14, 966) were sheltered (LAHSA, 2017). These figures show an overall increase in the homeless population by 23% in just one year, from 2016-2017. Not only are resources sometimes difficult for the homeless population to access, it is evident that shelter is a moderately inaccessible or difficult to access. The public health nurses involved with this initiative are Christine Jew, Samatha Navarro, Sabrina Nunez, and Edith Solis. They work at People Assisting the Homeless

Some people within Downtown Los Angeles refer to it as “L.A.” or “city of Angels.” Although Los Angeles County is very widespread, majority of Los Angeles’ houses are very close together and their conditions vary from run down to modern looking. In areas where there is a large homeless population, such as Skid Row, there are large encampments with multiple people living within them. In major urban settings, there is limited space between buildings and infrastructures. Some spaces within Downtown Los Angeles are not in use, legally, and can be considered abandoned. Some stretches of Downtown Los Angeles can be very modern and moderately safe, while the next stretch can be run-down and unsafe. People congregate throughout the community. These locations vary and can include public parks and restaurant plazas. Generally, there are more individual’s congregating in public places at later times versus more people within restaurant plazas/tourist attractions during earlier evening hours. In Downtown Los Angeles, people use multiple modes of transportation. These include walking, personal cars, public transportation (Metrolink), biking, and skateboarding. Public transportation is, for the most part reliable. In terms of personal cars, traffic is relatively hectic in the evening