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Speaker 1: There are many things that link us as people. Many

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Speaker 1: have positively contributed to the betterment of humankind. House and unhoused,

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Speaker 1: our society over zealously drums into too us respectability. We

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Speaker 1: must drive a certain car, score a certain sat score,

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Speaker 1: do all the right things. When that pipe dream smoke

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Speaker 1: drifts away, we become looking to blame others. Oftentimes it's

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Speaker 1: usually the on housed or people in more vulnerable conditions.

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Speaker 1: This episode highlights the struggles of house, nearly evicted, and

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Speaker 1: racialized women and how they are finding their inner somebodiness

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Speaker 1: to stand tall and make a difference in society. Our

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Speaker 1: guest star, Michelle Leeu found a chef of Inmate Bistro.

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Speaker 1: It's hard to run the business for the beginning, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and what happened because the business so snow And then

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Speaker 1: uh yes, oh I don't want the business because the business,

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Speaker 1: but I don't want and because I don't want to

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Speaker 1: give up, so I start to ruin the cop and

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Speaker 1: then the cop tell me how to cope Chinese foot.

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Speaker 1: After that, the business going up. Laura Fighter, Oh yeah, definitely.

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Speaker 1: As far as like happy Stories goes to, I was

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Speaker 1: gonna say, that's a delusional. We when we're out here.

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Speaker 1: This is this is a hard life to live, and

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Speaker 1: we have to tell ourselves a story, a fake story,

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Speaker 1: just to get through every day. It's not it's not

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Speaker 1: fair because you have to somehow put a smile on

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Speaker 1: your face and act like you're you're happy even though

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Speaker 1: you're miserable in the situation because otherwise society too badly

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Speaker 1: because you're not sitting there acting like this is fine. Man,

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Speaker 1: I'm loving this experience. No, our dignity is taking down

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Speaker 1: so much by being in this situation. Anybody, it don't

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Speaker 1: matter they have rich or poor, homeless, anybody. We all

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Speaker 1: human being. We need to play to live like they

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Speaker 1: do too. Okay, we don't matter they rich, they come

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Speaker 1: and kick us like that, it'll be pour no money.

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Speaker 1: But we work, called to pay all rent every single month.

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Speaker 1: We never missed the day. We pay on time, make

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Speaker 1: sure everything. But they're not so happy. They tried to

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Speaker 1: kick us out like we all criminal and tell them

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Speaker 1: to go to CBS or they have to pay online

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Speaker 1: which is thirty five dollars fee or the CBS four

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Speaker 1: dollar fee cash only, and we have to send the

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Speaker 1: cold and stuff like that. But with the cold, my

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Speaker 1: cousin took him like two days. They didn't even reach

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Speaker 1: back to us, and the time is almost upward ready.

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Speaker 1: It just a hassle. I just feel like at this point,

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Speaker 1: it's just harassment. And they just send us recently that

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Speaker 1: they're going to increase the rent after sending us eviction notice.

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Speaker 1: And Melissa said, I think because I'm able to help

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Speaker 1: some of these families just to even bridge the gap

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Speaker 1: between the next time their PVT kicks in, right, And

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Speaker 1: I've done that so many times where they're like, Melissa, hey,

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Speaker 1: you know, EVT is not going to kick can till

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Speaker 1: the tenth can you you know, can you bring us like,

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Speaker 1: you know, even just like a bag of rice and beans?

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Speaker 1: And I'm just like that's fine, and you know, like

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Speaker 1: at least just that little bit to make sure that

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Speaker 1: they're covered. But this shouldn't be the case, you know

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Speaker 1: what I mean. It shouldn't be the case. The same

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Speaker 1: way that like we shouldn't have to work two jobs

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Speaker 1: to be able to put a roof over our heads.

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Speaker 1: We shouldn't have to like break our backs to be

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Speaker 1: able to just feed our kids. But the fact that

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Speaker 1: I feel like sometimes food is the last thing on

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Speaker 1: people's minds. This is important join us for this episode

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Speaker 1: of one is the Full Circle. There's a topic that's

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Speaker 1: been going around that we cannot avoid, and the on

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Speaker 1: house community where the most vulnerable, and that is the

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Speaker 1: outbreak of the coronavirus. There are some facts and myths

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Speaker 1: that's going on, but let's dispel one of them. The

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Speaker 1: coronavirus was not spread by unhoused people. Despite no matter

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Speaker 1: what the vigilantes say. The unhoused community has been asking

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Speaker 1: incessantly for the city to provide portable bathrooms, mobile showers,

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Speaker 1: and sanitation pick up. What they have done in response

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Speaker 1: to those requests has painted the picture that on house

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Speaker 1: people are serves resistant, and they have utilized the vigilantes

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Speaker 1: in their community to push that, to crack down and

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Speaker 1: do horrific targeted sweeps. The second thing we need to

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Speaker 1: talk about is that on house people are in danger

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Speaker 1: from the coronavirus from the house community, in particular the police,

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Speaker 1: because they interact with people all sorts of days, all

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Speaker 1: sorts of times, i should say, as well as in

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Speaker 1: different interactions, they can be carrying the disease and not

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Speaker 1: even know it. Because many of the coronavirus victims have

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Speaker 1: the disease and they don't know it. So anytime when

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Speaker 1: an unhoused person that they interact after a nimbia is

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Speaker 1: called three point one to terrorize them, they go and

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Speaker 1: interact and infect the unhoused population, and in turn, the

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Speaker 1: unhoused community is infected. This police officer can go back

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Speaker 1: into his home and kiss his wife and kids and

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Speaker 1: infect them. They in turn go to school, infect their classmates.

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Speaker 1: They go in school, go to effect their parents, as

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Speaker 1: well as go to their churches or synagogues or other

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Speaker 1: places of worship. And now they have created an epidemic.

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Speaker 1: The house community is the danger. The unhous community is not.

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Speaker 1: So what quarantine measures are we going to impose on them?

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Speaker 1: Will we ship them to the desert? Will where the

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Speaker 1: outcry will be? What is necessary? Because let's face it,

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Speaker 1: these politicians, they are always grabbing the hands of these

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Speaker 1: nimby supporters who may have had this coronavirus, and then

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Speaker 1: they unleash this disease on vulnerable people. Another issue I've

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Speaker 1: been very concerned about it with the coronavirus is that

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Speaker 1: there is not sufficient enough medical testing that is required

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Speaker 1: or available for housing on housed people. This menace that

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Speaker 1: has been spread via the house community. Let's be clear,

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Speaker 1: these people that have been infected have not been on

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Speaker 1: housed people. There have been house people. So there has

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Speaker 1: to be some quarantine measures against the house community. Why

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Speaker 1: are we not putting them in the desert. So there

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Speaker 1: you have it, Pero is the fact that masks that

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Speaker 1: you see the people wearing unless you are infected is ineffective. Also,

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Speaker 1: if you are afraid about the coronavirus, you avoid touches,

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Speaker 1: your eyes, nose and mouth, you stay home when you're sick.

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Speaker 1: But that's just usually not available to holistic country we

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Speaker 1: have and it's hard to do with you always are

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Speaker 1: interacting with the police and park range just because they're

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Speaker 1: the ones that are trying to infect the young house community.

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Speaker 1: The more you know, the more you prepare, and the

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Speaker 1: more you say something about it. In the last episode

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Speaker 1: of Wilian House, we heard accounts from the Chatsworth of

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Speaker 1: residents about the targeted harassment done in concert with Councilmember Lee,

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Speaker 1: such as twice a day raids sweeps, targeted ticketing by

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Speaker 1: sheriffs to jail the young housed, and loud learning music. Recently,

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Speaker 1: Councilmember John Lee is targeting a soul RV on a

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Speaker 1: street in Chatsworth. He signed on March six, twenty twenty,

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Speaker 1: a resolution that uses Municipal Codes Section eighty point sixty

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Speaker 1: nine point four prohibiting the parking of vehicles in excess

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Speaker 1: of twenty two feet in lengths or over eighty four

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Speaker 1: inches on both sides of Devonshire Street from Wilbur Avenue

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Speaker 1: to van Alden Avenue. In other news, for the house,

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Speaker 1: the coronavirus guidelines can be impossible, Doctor Barbara Furrer, director

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Speaker 1: of the Los Angeles County Public Health Department, said many

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Speaker 1: of the strategies that we ask for people to take

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Speaker 1: who are unsheltered are actually impossible. The city has, in

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Speaker 1: part have conducted brutal sweeps locked bathrooms in Mitchell, Pharaoh's

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Speaker 1: Eco Park restrooms and refuse to have mobile showers and

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Speaker 1: across the city. They have been successful at displacing many

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Speaker 1: on housed residents as well as taking their belongings and

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Speaker 1: destroying them. And other news en campment sweeps take away

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Speaker 1: houseless people's most important belongings, which has brought with a

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Speaker 1: class action lawsuit from unhoused residents and seven on house

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Speaker 1: people lead plaintiff janat Garcia and an employed on house

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Speaker 1: resident who's a house cleaner, had her belongings taken by

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Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Sanitation Department. You will remember Council Member

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Speaker 1: President Neuri Martinez directing city council members to target on

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Speaker 1: house belongings until they have nothing left her campaign, along

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Speaker 1: with a close concert with the Los Angeles Police Department,

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Speaker 1: the Sanitation Department has been largely successful. They have displaced

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Speaker 1: many on house residents, many of them having disabilities, and

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Speaker 1: targeting by jailing them or threatening to jail them, paraplegics,

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Speaker 1: throwing away prosthetic legs, throwing away wheelchairs, medication, important papers,

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Speaker 1: and constantly harassing and stage cancer patient Matt Dog in Hollywood.

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Speaker 1: So as a result of this, the city has tried

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Speaker 1: to find ways to continue displace and target on house

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Speaker 1: residents and find loopholes for bulky items once they settlement.

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Speaker 1: If it is upcoming or if there will be a settlement,

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Speaker 1: they would continue to do the same thing, but now

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Speaker 1: with the impact or the agreement of a settlement. When

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Speaker 1: the loopholes are interacted, this will enrage rank and file

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Speaker 1: police officers, discuss sanitation officials, and infuriate the Thembat community. Lastly,

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Speaker 1: a study shows that a vast majority of people receiving

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Speaker 1: houseless services have held down jobs, some rite until they

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Speaker 1: have become unhoused. The coronavirus has affected the stock market, business,

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Speaker 1: recreational activities and eateries in Chinatown. This has been affected

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Speaker 1: the hardest with fear and anti Asian sentiment. Our next

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Speaker 1: guest is no stranger to adversity. Michelle Lou is the

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Speaker 1: owner and chef of Zinme bistrog She joins us now,

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Speaker 1: this is Leo Henderson from Me the Unhoused, and I

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Speaker 1: talk about unhoused issues and how it affects the different

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Speaker 1: issues that go on. But this issue links the unhoused

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Speaker 1: community as well as the house community. And do you

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Speaker 1: know what that is? Food another thing that is linking.

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Speaker 1: But it's not it's a great idea. It's been the coronavirus.

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Speaker 1: There has been a lot of talk and a lot

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Speaker 1: of panic and a lot of unnecessary fear about coronavirus.

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Speaker 1: It is hit our communities in different ways. I as

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Speaker 1: an unhoused man, has known Michelle Lou here for many

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Speaker 1: years and I eat at her restaurant and I want

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Speaker 1: you touch base because it's also women's history mode. And

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Speaker 1: what many don't know is miss Lou is the owner

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Speaker 1: and the cook of then Made Fistro in Los Angeles Chinatown.

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Speaker 1: So without further ado, I'm going to introduce her and

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask her a few questions about her business

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Speaker 1: and how she got started and what are the challenges

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Speaker 1: that's going on right now due to what's going on

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Speaker 1: with this ignorance that's being spread. So Hi Michelle, Hi TiO. Yes,

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Speaker 1: we've known each other for a long time, but the

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Speaker 1: audience will know how long have we known each other about? Maybe? Uh,

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Speaker 1: I think it's twelphy yes or yes? Uh huh? How

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Speaker 1: did we be? What did you used to go? Because

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Speaker 1: you remember, I'll go to the park, Yeah, for my

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Speaker 1: son to play the basketball. He was he was a

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Speaker 1: very he's big now, but he was a very little

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Speaker 1: kid then. So I also used to come here to

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Speaker 1: eat At the time. You didn't own the place, but

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Speaker 1: what were you What was going on? Because my husband

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Speaker 1: lost job and then this restaurant is closed. My house

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Speaker 1: and it's easy to take care my children, so I

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Speaker 1: take this business. Okay, this was the year around the recession,

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Speaker 1: So where is it hard? Or easy or did people

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Speaker 1: tell you to stop or that it's hard to run

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Speaker 1: the business for the beginning, Yeah, and what happened because

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Speaker 1: the business saw snow and then uh what about the

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Speaker 1: family did differently? Yes, Oh, I don't run the business

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Speaker 1: start the business, but I don't want and because I

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Speaker 1: don't want to give up, so I start to run

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Speaker 1: the cop and then the cop tell me how to

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Speaker 1: cop Chinese food. After that the business going up. Oh yeah,

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Speaker 1: uh huh. Why now our business is good because our

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Speaker 1: first snow energy nets and nests oil. So it's different.

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Speaker 1: Here's another fact that Michelle has done. Because many people,

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Speaker 1: many stores, even in Chinatown, they don't really treat on

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Speaker 1: house people well or people that are on the streets.

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Speaker 1: There's a sign that's full out there saying don't give money.

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Speaker 1: But because we've been friends for so many years, she

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Speaker 1: has really have looked out for me, like if I

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Speaker 1: needed my phone charged, or because the places don't WoT it,

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Speaker 1: or when I come to eat. I'm always treated with

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Speaker 1: dignity and respect. And that I can't say that this

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Speaker 1: is everywhere, it's just not in Chinatown, but there have

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Speaker 1: been places. So when I heard the challenges, that's been

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Speaker 1: going on with the coronavirus, fears and prejudices, and I

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Speaker 1: felt that it was affecting the business. I felt that

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Speaker 1: we need I needed to do something and this is

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Speaker 1: one of my ways of doing it. So, what has

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Speaker 1: been going on? What have you know that's been going

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Speaker 1: on with the coronavirus? Thena coronavirus? Yeah, of that our business?

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Speaker 1: Why now the people scary to come out for eat? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: When you said that, six you feel scared to eat?

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Speaker 1: I have to show you this. This is one of

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Speaker 1: my firsts. She's probably gonna lie, but this is one

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Speaker 1: of my favorite meals up here. What is this? That's

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Speaker 1: a fist field spicy salt? And usually she knows because

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Speaker 1: I always it's got so bad that when I call

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Speaker 1: in the restaurant, then that ship when they go and

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Speaker 1: speak in Chinese, but they say THEO they automatically. So

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Speaker 1: I have to show you that. It's like I've been

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Speaker 1: here mostly. I was here last night and I'm here today,

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Speaker 1: and I'm showing you that I'm alive. There's nothing happened

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Speaker 1: to me. Thank you. So this restaurant has been how

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Speaker 1: long have you been in life with the restaurant? Seven years?

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Speaker 1: Seven years and it's got busies right now. You have

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Speaker 1: some customers in here, but usually sometimes it's really packed

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Speaker 1: during lunchtime. Yes, the lunchtime iss so yeah. So here

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Speaker 1: is an example of how we let prejudice and fear

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Speaker 1: runs us, just the same as we do with the

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Speaker 1: unhoused community. Based on our prejudices and fears, we let

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Speaker 1: us make panic reactions. I'm here to say that as people,

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Speaker 1: as our humanity it has been always questioned or or

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Speaker 1: been misused, we need to re examine those kinds of

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Speaker 1: things because those images that we have of unhoused people

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Speaker 1: and of other people of other races and Chinese or

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Speaker 1: African American, or even in our own communities, if we

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Speaker 1: have anti Asian bias or anti black sentiment, we need

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Speaker 1: to understand that we all are in the same boat now,

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Speaker 1: that we all are trying to do the best we

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Speaker 1: can in this planet, and we should be much more

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Speaker 1: kinder and humane to one another. This is THEO Henderson

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Speaker 1: from Weedy On House, and I thank you all for listening.

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Speaker 1: May we all again meet in the light of understanding

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Speaker 1: this segment of women's history muff I titled did you know?

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Speaker 1: Did you know that Jennifer Lopez left on the sofa

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Speaker 1: of her dance studio. Holly Berry is known around the world,

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Speaker 1: but she stayed in a shelter in her early twenties

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Speaker 1: when she moved to New York. We've heard songs on

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Speaker 1: Christmas time and jazz records, but Ela Fhiczgera was an

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Speaker 1: unhoused teenage runaway until debuting at the Apollo Theater in

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Speaker 1: nineteen thirty four. Here is a huge did you know

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Speaker 1: the Asian American population are underrepresented in the houseless population.

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Speaker 1: The unhoused population of Asian Americans have rapidly increased by

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Speaker 1: a rate of forty four percent, which is the highest

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Speaker 1: growth among all racial groups. The unhoused population of Asian

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Speaker 1: Americans in Los Angeles make up one percent of the

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Speaker 1: fourteen percent that live here. The Department of Housing and

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Speaker 1: Urban Development estimates that six seven hundred Asian Americans are

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Speaker 1: living on the streets and living in shelters, and ten

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Speaker 1: thousand people are living in transitional housing, which are temporary

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Speaker 1: housing that shelter and house people were up to twenty

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Speaker 1: four months. Twelve point three percent of Asian Americans live

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Speaker 1: below the federal poverty line and twenty percent Native Americans

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Speaker 1: and Pacific Islanders live in poverty. This is the more

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Speaker 1: you know. May Angelo said, we may encounter many defeats,

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Speaker 1: but we must not be defeated. Laura Fighter represents this thinking. Well,

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Speaker 1: let's hear her story. We're here in the studio so

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Speaker 1: on a lovely Sunday afternoon, we're out in Grand Park

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Speaker 1: in downtown Los Angeles. I'm Theo Henderson from Weedy On House,

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Speaker 1: and I have another guest here that's enjoying this lovely

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Speaker 1: Sunday and with this extraordinary dog. I like this dog,

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Speaker 1: very friendly. I think it's a German sheepherd. Is it yep?

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Speaker 1: German effort? Next, so I'm going to let her introduce

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Speaker 1: her and we're going to just take a usual conversation

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Speaker 1: from there. So Hello, Hi, I'm Laura. Hi Laura, I

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Speaker 1: understand that you're on house. We met just today and

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Speaker 1: I want to hear how did you become in house

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Speaker 1: and we can take it from there. Well, it's been

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Speaker 1: about two years now. I was involved in a relationship.

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Speaker 1: He talked me into moving here to California. I was

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Speaker 1: living in Oregon. So I moved here and over the

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Speaker 1: course of about six months, I had four concussions from him,

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Speaker 1: and my body was full of bruises, and he got

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Speaker 1: all of my belongings from my apartment. I had so

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Speaker 1: many head injuries that it was causing me like not

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Speaker 1: to be able to think clearly. Plus I already had

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Speaker 1: a traumatic brain injury, so my judgment was often I

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Speaker 1: ended up deciding I had to leave him or I

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Speaker 1: was gonna die. Police weren't helping me. Nobody was helping me.

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Speaker 1: I didn't have Everybody loved him and thought he was great,

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Speaker 1: but I was getting beaten up and I was gonna

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Speaker 1: end up dead, so I had to make a choice

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Speaker 1: to take off. DELI was the closest, biggest place to

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Speaker 1: go for resources and stuff, So I ended up out here.

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Speaker 1: But it's been really hard. How long have you been

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Speaker 1: out here. I've been out here for about a year.

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Speaker 1: You stated you have a traumatic brain injury. What does

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Speaker 1: that mean for the audience. I was in a car

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Speaker 1: accident when I was twelve. I damaged my right temporal

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Speaker 1: lobe and my right parahimp campus and then it also

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Speaker 1: caused me to have a seizure disorder. So I've had

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Speaker 1: seizures since I was twelve years old, too, how do

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Speaker 1: you able to manage these health challenges out here in

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Speaker 1: the street. It's excruciatingly difficult. There's no resources. When that

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Speaker 1: was Another thing is when I was when I did

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Speaker 1: have a place to live, I had caregivers that came

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Speaker 1: over every day to help me. Here, I have nobody

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Speaker 1: to help me. I'm completely vulnerable. I'm having a very

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Speaker 1: hard time getting my needs met. I just learned a

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Speaker 1: lot about for women to be on house as incredibly dangerous.

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Speaker 1: It's for it's on house for men too, but women

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Speaker 1: they have a certain unique set of circumstances. I'm like,

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Speaker 1: rapes and assaults. Have you had experienced that or witness city?

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Speaker 1: Is this going on? Oh yes, I've almost been raped

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Speaker 1: several times. What I do instead of fighting off a

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Speaker 1: man who's more powerful than I am, is I just

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Speaker 1: give in because I feel like if I there's no help,

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Speaker 1: there's no police help, so there's nobody to call it

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Speaker 1: to help for So my choice is to get beaten

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Speaker 1: up or just to give up sex. And they're you know,

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Speaker 1: like they're forceful, they're tearing your clothes off. You know,

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Speaker 1: it's a no win situation. So and I've also known,

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Speaker 1: you know, a lot of female friends that have gotten raped.

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Speaker 1: I've I've seen several times because now I have a dog.

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Speaker 1: I didn't have a dog before, but I have a

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Speaker 1: dog now, so she will wake me up and so

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Speaker 1: I've prevented a lot of that from happening now. But

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Speaker 1: like there's been men coming up to me like they

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Speaker 1: were gonna rate me, but she deters them quite a

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Speaker 1: bit because she's big enough to you know, look like

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Speaker 1: she'll cost some language. So I've had it a lot

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Speaker 1: better off than a lot of women. But they have

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Speaker 1: got known women that have gotten raped out here. So

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Speaker 1: that's going to show you why some of the unhoused

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Speaker 1: has pets. But your pet is also is a deterrent

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Speaker 1: as also one of your service dogs. Right, Yes, she's

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Speaker 1: a seizure alert dog, and one of her duties is

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Speaker 1: to protect me during a seizure. It's listed as one

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Speaker 1: of her duties. Even the neurologists with that down is

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Speaker 1: one of the things that I needed. But the police

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Speaker 1: will say you're not allowed to have a guard dog,

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Speaker 1: and they have to argue with them and tell them

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Speaker 1: I am allowed to have a dog that protects me

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Speaker 1: during a seizure and she's allowed to be trained for that,

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Speaker 1: but they don't like you having any protection out here

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Speaker 1: at all. I have had agree because that many times

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Speaker 1: that they look at me, it's dangerous. I do martial arts,

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Speaker 1: and they considered me a triple thread. They had thirteen

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Speaker 1: cops for me, I think, and I was going to

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Speaker 1: lash out when they are going to attack or ask me.

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Speaker 1: But one of the questions I wanted to ask you

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Speaker 1: is that you said that you feel powerless out here.

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Speaker 1: Why do you feel so powerless? It's been ingrained into

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Speaker 1: me to realize that when I had a place to live,

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Speaker 1: I was treated a lot differently by law enforcement and

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Speaker 1: by the you know, the social community around me. Everything

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Speaker 1: else being just simply being unhoused. I have been treated

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Speaker 1: so unfairly, and I realize it's just trial and error

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Speaker 1: or learning behaviorally how things work. Is that there's no

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Speaker 1: there's no help for us out here. We have less rights.

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Speaker 1: I believe we have less rights than prisoners. Prisoners can

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Speaker 1: complain about the way that they're treated, and they get

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Speaker 1: lawyers that come in and help them. We complain, Nobody

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Speaker 1: wants to hear it. Nobody wants to listen there. They

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Speaker 1: assume the stigma attached to being homeless is that we're

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Speaker 1: all on drugs, we're all prostitutes, we're all asking for

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00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:05,159
Speaker 1: in some way, we've all done something wrong. You know,

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Speaker 1: nobody believes your story. We don't have a voice. People

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00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,000
Speaker 1: aren't allowed to say this is what happened to me.

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Speaker 1: This is really the first time anybody's even asked me

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Speaker 1: what happened to you? If I start to talk about

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Speaker 1: it in other situations, I'm shut down. Oh, we all

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00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:19,440
Speaker 1: have problems, and then they shut you down. So everybody

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Speaker 1: has a story. I have to say I agree, everyone

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00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,679
Speaker 1: has a story, and your voice accounts it matters. That

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Speaker 1: was the very reason why I did this podcast, because

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Speaker 1: I want the world to know and for the ones

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Speaker 1: that says I had something that really bothered me. A

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Speaker 1: professor stated that they already know about the suffering of

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Speaker 1: unhoused people, that they wanted to hear the happy stories.

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Speaker 1: And I say to this that invalidates your experience because

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Speaker 1: your story may not be happy, but it's a reality

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Speaker 1: that you have a right to have your voice heard.

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Speaker 1: And if you want to hear happy stories, then turn

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Speaker 1: on Sesame Street. But this is reality. And I want

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Speaker 1: all of my community members that are housed to have

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Speaker 1: a happy story, and that one of the ways is

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00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,040
Speaker 1: to tell their story so these things can stop. So

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00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:00,240
Speaker 1: it has the community singled you out when you stood

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Speaker 1: up for yourself, Oh yeah, definitely. As far as like

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Speaker 1: happy stories goes to, I was going to say, that's

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00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:09,720
Speaker 1: a delusional we when we're out here, this is this

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00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:13,040
Speaker 1: is a hard life to live, and we have to

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00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:15,840
Speaker 1: tell ourselves a story, a fake story, just to get

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Speaker 1: through every day. It's not it's not fair because you

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00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:20,600
Speaker 1: have to somehow put a smile on your face and

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00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:24,479
Speaker 1: act like you're you're happy even though you're miserable in

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Speaker 1: the situation, because otherwise society treats you badly because you're

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Speaker 1: not sitting there acting like this is fine. Man, I'm

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Speaker 1: loving this experience. No there. Our dignity is taking down

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Speaker 1: so much by being in this situation. And it's not.

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Speaker 1: One thing that I have a problem with is that

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Speaker 1: they're acting like we're subpar humans. We're not. We a

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00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,440
Speaker 1: lot of us can be. We're still registered voters, we're

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Speaker 1: still tax paying systems because in the City, California, anytime

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00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:53,760
Speaker 1: you buy anything in the store, you're paying taxes. So

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00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:56,120
Speaker 1: we pay the taxes for these police officers that are

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Speaker 1: harassing us and treating us with no dignity or no

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00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:04,360
Speaker 1: we're paying taxes that fund some of these you know,

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Speaker 1: services that we're getting, but nobody takes that into consideration.

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Speaker 1: What we're told on top of it, Oh, you're supposed

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Speaker 1: to be happy about your situation. Why am I supposed

428
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:17,359
Speaker 1: to be happy about it? Exactly when you stayed of

429
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,960
Speaker 1: their medical issues. That's the medical personnels that you've had.

430
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,720
Speaker 1: Because you told me a story, and I want the

431
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:26,600
Speaker 1: rest of the listening audience to hear this, So tell

432
00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:30,000
Speaker 1: us what you told Bess. Well, I was in the hospital.

433
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,600
Speaker 1: I don't want to say what it was because it's embarrassing,

434
00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:37,919
Speaker 1: but I had an emergency situation that required surgery. And

435
00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:40,399
Speaker 1: front of my background is that I went to school

436
00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:42,920
Speaker 1: to be a nurse. But because of my brain traumas

437
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,399
Speaker 1: and seizures over the years, I've lost a lot of

438
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:49,160
Speaker 1: my intelligence, I guess. So I know, though I still

439
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,600
Speaker 1: have enough of that basic knowledge to know that I

440
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,440
Speaker 1: was in trouble, you know, health wise, and I've had

441
00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:56,879
Speaker 1: jobs where I've had good interest. I know the difference

442
00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:59,680
Speaker 1: between good interance and not having good interurance. They're still

443
00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:02,560
Speaker 1: getting pay for their what they're doing with your low

444
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:05,359
Speaker 1: income insurance, but they don't do the same job that

445
00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:07,800
Speaker 1: they do when you have better insurance. I don't know why,

446
00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:10,919
Speaker 1: but what happened to me is I needed surgery for

447
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,520
Speaker 1: the situation that I had. And I overheard the doctor

448
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:18,639
Speaker 1: in the hallway talking to another doctor saying about homeless people.

449
00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:21,240
Speaker 1: I wish we could just round them all up and

450
00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:25,000
Speaker 1: take ship them off to Siberia and force them to work,

451
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:27,480
Speaker 1: because that's the problem. They don't want to work. That's

452
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:29,960
Speaker 1: not the problem that people don't want to work. Most

453
00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:33,080
Speaker 1: people that are in this situation are in this situation

454
00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:36,960
Speaker 1: because they have mental problems, they have physical problems, they

455
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,639
Speaker 1: have there's reasons they can't work. But our income is

456
00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:43,359
Speaker 1: below when you get on Social Security, they act like, oh,

457
00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:46,159
Speaker 1: that's free money, should be happy. Well, it's below the

458
00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:51,560
Speaker 1: poverty level, it's below minimum wage. We don't have even

459
00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:55,159
Speaker 1: enough to covers housing, and for some reason, the housing

460
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:59,080
Speaker 1: that's available to us, we're expected to jump through unreasonable hoops.

461
00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:04,359
Speaker 1: And I'm beau behind. I was going to say, that

462
00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:07,280
Speaker 1: is so true, Like I was, I was going back

463
00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:09,920
Speaker 1: in the time to hear when I was trying to apply,

464
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,679
Speaker 1: and I'm right applying for housing now the insurmountable obstacles

465
00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:19,760
Speaker 1: based on society pressures and biases, drug testing and background check,

466
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,080
Speaker 1: and you got to go, you know, make sure you're

467
00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:24,720
Speaker 1: not making any money or you're making this amount of money.

468
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,399
Speaker 1: If you are, you're doing fraud, you're a criminal, or

469
00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:29,760
Speaker 1: all this kind of craziness just for to get to

470
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:32,560
Speaker 1: get off the street. And then when you go to shelters,

471
00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:36,080
Speaker 1: that's another nightmare because then you got staff that really

472
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:38,600
Speaker 1: have no business with dealing with unhoused people at all.

473
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:41,000
Speaker 1: But I don't know if you had any experiences with

474
00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:43,760
Speaker 1: difficulties of that. Can you talk about that? Yeah, in

475
00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:47,600
Speaker 1: fact that I just had an experience with that where

476
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,239
Speaker 1: I was told for the last like year or so,

477
00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:54,360
Speaker 1: I'd been working with an agency that I thought was

478
00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:56,040
Speaker 1: going to help me get housed, and come to find

479
00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,120
Speaker 1: out after six months of working with them and no

480
00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:02,160
Speaker 1: prospects for housing out. I said, you know what's going on?

481
00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:05,480
Speaker 1: They said, Oh, well, you're just not volunteering enough. Your

482
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:08,640
Speaker 1: personality isn't sunshiny enough. You're not doing you know, like

483
00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:11,960
Speaker 1: you're not jumping basically through our hoops enough. So we

484
00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:14,600
Speaker 1: aren't putting on this for housing. What are you talking

485
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:18,120
Speaker 1: about the government's funding these housing programs for people that

486
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:22,200
Speaker 1: are the requirement is that I'm you know, have h

487
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:26,960
Speaker 1: disabilities and that I'm a survivor of domestic violence. These

488
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:29,040
Speaker 1: are things that should vump me up on the list.

489
00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:32,560
Speaker 1: Not whether or not I'm kissing your guys', but for

490
00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 1: you know, to make you feel good about giving me

491
00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:38,680
Speaker 1: the service. You don't. It's not your service to give.

492
00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:42,200
Speaker 1: It's just you're there to, you know, help me, assist

493
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:44,360
Speaker 1: me to get that. But that's not what they're doing.

494
00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:48,800
Speaker 1: They're making us feel like we would be grateful. Yeah, well,

495
00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:51,360
Speaker 1: and you would be grateful if you're getting the service

496
00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,760
Speaker 1: when we don't get the service. Not the problem. We

497
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,320
Speaker 1: don't get any services. We get told that we have to,

498
00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:01,720
Speaker 1: you know, like keep eye. I said, really, that's the

499
00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:04,080
Speaker 1: thing that I'm even willing to do that. I'm willing

500
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:06,360
Speaker 1: to volunteer and do all this stuff. So I signed

501
00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:08,760
Speaker 1: up for volunteering. They made it a game where it

502
00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,560
Speaker 1: was I showed up to be a volunteer. Then they said, oh, sorry,

503
00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:14,600
Speaker 1: you can't be here because you have seizars. Blah blah blah, ah,

504
00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:17,320
Speaker 1: just like they made it impossible for me to even

505
00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:19,240
Speaker 1: jump through their hoops. So it's just a game. It's

506
00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:23,360
Speaker 1: a psychotic game, and it's crazy. It's I agree. So

507
00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:28,160
Speaker 1: after you're out here and you're living among the I

508
00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:31,600
Speaker 1: guess the mercies of the winds and reigns of heaven,

509
00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:36,280
Speaker 1: I'm wanting to ask you, how does law enforcement treat you? Well,

510
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:40,760
Speaker 1: they are not there. That's so hard because I want

511
00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:44,840
Speaker 1: to scream about that. It's so hateful. It's so hateful,

512
00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:47,800
Speaker 1: and for no reason. You know, like I'm not. I

513
00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:49,760
Speaker 1: feel like I'm a law abiding citizen as much as

514
00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:52,320
Speaker 1: I possibly can be. I'm a law abiding citizen. Many

515
00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:54,160
Speaker 1: on the hows are, but go ahead, why do you

516
00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:57,520
Speaker 1: what happens with them? There was a situation where I

517
00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:01,080
Speaker 1: contacted law enforcement about something I saw that I thought

518
00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:04,280
Speaker 1: was really really bad, and I wanted to do my part.

519
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:06,000
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm not a great human being if

520
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:08,600
Speaker 1: I don't report this, So I reported it, and when

521
00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:12,560
Speaker 1: I did, law enforcement turned around and started harassing the

522
00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,640
Speaker 1: neighborhood that I was in every day, parked in front

523
00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,440
Speaker 1: of my tents, specifically so that everybody knew I was

524
00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:22,560
Speaker 1: the one who told and started just harassing me, harassing me,

525
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,240
Speaker 1: harassing me. They made me they when they talk to me,

526
00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:28,000
Speaker 1: they don't speak to me like kindly they speak to me.

527
00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:30,320
Speaker 1: I asked them one time they told us all to

528
00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:32,280
Speaker 1: get out of our tents. Recently I got out of

529
00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,000
Speaker 1: my tents being cooperative. I wasn't being harmful at all.

530
00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:38,400
Speaker 1: Answering all other questions that they asked, they were hatefully asking,

531
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:42,240
Speaker 1: And then in the end I asked them, is it

532
00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:45,720
Speaker 1: okay if I leave get out of here? What I'm

533
00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:49,920
Speaker 1: being nicely? There's no reason to use force, And that's

534
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:52,560
Speaker 1: a way of using force, even if it's verbal. There's

535
00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:54,680
Speaker 1: no reason to use force against a person that's not

536
00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:57,600
Speaker 1: causing you harm. Why is it that people believe that

537
00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,560
Speaker 1: police officers are so nice and so deserving for all

538
00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:03,720
Speaker 1: the accolades, Because if you look on the TV when

539
00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:07,400
Speaker 1: a police officer gets shot, they make up this post

540
00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,479
Speaker 1: a child like he was this angel alite that you know,

541
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,800
Speaker 1: if anybody speaks out when they do a police police

542
00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:17,959
Speaker 1: does citizens difficult like police brutality or do things like this?

543
00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:20,920
Speaker 1: Why is it such met with such disbelief or just

544
00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:28,400
Speaker 1: outright angry angry messages? Personally I want to be a

545
00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:31,480
Speaker 1: kind human being. I want to feel bad for people.

546
00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:33,720
Speaker 1: I want to feel like they're heroes and that they

547
00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:36,880
Speaker 1: are angels and stuff. But my experience with them is different.

548
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:40,600
Speaker 1: Being in this situation is different than being in a

549
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:46,320
Speaker 1: house situation they put I feel. My personal feeling on

550
00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:50,600
Speaker 1: this is that they feel like they have to be

551
00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:53,160
Speaker 1: nice all the time to the public. So we're the

552
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:55,680
Speaker 1: people that don't matter, and they can let out all

553
00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:58,880
Speaker 1: their aggressions on us, and we have no voice. We're

554
00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:02,840
Speaker 1: never believed. I feel like we're just their doormat that

555
00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:07,480
Speaker 1: they can wipe their feet on. Very very apt metaphor.

556
00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:10,240
Speaker 1: One more thing I wanted to say is that did

557
00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:14,320
Speaker 1: any of the neighborhood target you because you were living

558
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:17,720
Speaker 1: in their neighborhoods or did you encounter any of that? Yeah,

559
00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:20,120
Speaker 1: I just had to leave that area. I don't. I

560
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:25,400
Speaker 1: don't go back down there very often. What happened a lot,

561
00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:29,120
Speaker 1: I didn't even say, I don't it was bad. I

562
00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:33,640
Speaker 1: got mazed. I got it really felt like it was.

563
00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:36,240
Speaker 1: It really felt like there was people that were doing

564
00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:38,840
Speaker 1: it for the police. It was not. It didn't feel

565
00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:41,440
Speaker 1: like it felt like because I was always got along

566
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:43,680
Speaker 1: in that neighborhood that wasn't you know, Like I had

567
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:45,640
Speaker 1: never had any issues with anybody, and all of a sudden,

568
00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:48,160
Speaker 1: people from another neighborhood or somewhere I don't even know

569
00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:50,320
Speaker 1: showed up. But there was people that came in to

570
00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:56,080
Speaker 1: vehicles that like I got I got treated very badly,

571
00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:58,400
Speaker 1: and it was I had to leave without any of

572
00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:01,080
Speaker 1: my stuff. I had to leave. I just that morning

573
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:04,440
Speaker 1: got up and took off and didn't come back. Because

574
00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:07,360
Speaker 1: it was not bad. It was in Los Angeles. I think.

575
00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:10,840
Speaker 1: I don't really want to say, oh, well, so I

576
00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:16,440
Speaker 1: by your non answer, we understand. Is there anything what

577
00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:18,640
Speaker 1: would be the best way for us to help you?

578
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:24,240
Speaker 1: Just believe when people are telling you their horror stories,

579
00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:27,359
Speaker 1: just listen to them and believe them that it maybe

580
00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:29,880
Speaker 1: they're giving you, you know, like the public information that

581
00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:32,879
Speaker 1: you don't have, and maybe, you know, maybe you can

582
00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:36,160
Speaker 1: learn something from this and we can change it. I

583
00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:39,799
Speaker 1: am all for, Like I'm not saying, Okay, let's just

584
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:42,560
Speaker 1: kill all the law enforcement or let's just kill all

585
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:44,760
Speaker 1: the people at the shelters. I'm saying, let's make a change.

586
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,080
Speaker 1: Believe us that we're telling you the truth. We're telling

587
00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:49,480
Speaker 1: you that this is the treatment that we receive and when,

588
00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:52,520
Speaker 1: and not every person out here is, you know, doing

589
00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:54,400
Speaker 1: something harmful. In a lot of the people that are

590
00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:57,960
Speaker 1: doing something that's harmful is because they're mentally ill. And also,

591
00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:00,920
Speaker 1: let's point out, let's be honest, they're more house criminals

592
00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:04,319
Speaker 1: that they are in house people. Oh yeah, there's absolutely yeah.

593
00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:06,520
Speaker 1: And that was another thing that we talked about too earlier,

594
00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:08,920
Speaker 1: was that you know, people are saying, oh, they are

595
00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:12,160
Speaker 1: drug addicts. Drug addicts are in every aspect of society.

596
00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:15,520
Speaker 1: There's functioning drug addicts, there's celebrities that are functioning drug addicts.

597
00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:17,239
Speaker 1: That has nothing to do with that. The people that

598
00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:20,239
Speaker 1: are homeless and drug addicts is usually because they're so

599
00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:25,320
Speaker 1: freaking harmed in whatever way abusive ways. Men and women

600
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,400
Speaker 1: are so harmed by either society or victimized by it

601
00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:32,239
Speaker 1: because they're mentally ill ill or because they're they're disabled.

602
00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:35,520
Speaker 1: That doesn't disabled and mentally ill aren't too in the

603
00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:40,360
Speaker 1: same They're it's weeding out the week, it's the weakest.

604
00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:42,919
Speaker 1: They don't believe anymore in our country that that we're

605
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:45,319
Speaker 1: only as strong as our weakest links. They believe. Now,

606
00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:47,600
Speaker 1: let's weed out the week. What are you going to

607
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:49,520
Speaker 1: It's like saying you want to get rid of all

608
00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:51,880
Speaker 1: the pigeons that they exist. You know, it's not going

609
00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:54,160
Speaker 1: to happen. It's not We're not going to get weeded out.

610
00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:57,879
Speaker 1: You know, Like we do exist and there's a there's

611
00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:01,279
Speaker 1: a value to us too, but nobody sees that or

612
00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:04,239
Speaker 1: tries to tap into that at all. They just try

613
00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:06,520
Speaker 1: to act like we don't exist. But we do exist.

614
00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:08,919
Speaker 1: We're not invisible, you know. So a lot of people

615
00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:12,359
Speaker 1: are making a loud noise to say I'm here. You know,

616
00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:16,080
Speaker 1: this is why we the Young House is in existence.

617
00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:18,920
Speaker 1: And like I say, thank you very much Lauren for

618
00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:21,759
Speaker 1: your time. I really am touched by your story, and

619
00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:24,399
Speaker 1: I feel the need more so when I hear your

620
00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:27,319
Speaker 1: story and many other stories that I've come across, to

621
00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:30,359
Speaker 1: refortify my efforts to get the story, not just the

622
00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:33,280
Speaker 1: fluff pieces, because they already are out there for people

623
00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:35,640
Speaker 1: to feel good. But are you really going to use

624
00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:38,320
Speaker 1: the stories that you hear that are not fluff pieces

625
00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:41,279
Speaker 1: to bring about the change. And that is on you

626
00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:45,160
Speaker 1: as a society that sits in these lovely homes that

627
00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:47,880
Speaker 1: go home and lay their hands down on expensive pillows

628
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:50,600
Speaker 1: that have to get their chi lattes, or they pumpkin

629
00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:54,279
Speaker 1: spice lottes, or they drink their mimosas. You have to

630
00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:57,680
Speaker 1: ponder what role do I play into this? Am I

631
00:36:57,719 --> 00:37:00,000
Speaker 1: affecting the change? Or am I a part of the change?

632
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,319
Speaker 1: And if I'm not affecting the change, then I am

633
00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:06,080
Speaker 1: part of a change because I'm complicit by standing by

634
00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:10,120
Speaker 1: and saying nothing. This is THEO Henderson from Weeie Young House,

635
00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:12,799
Speaker 1: and I thank you all for listening, and may we

636
00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:46,000
Speaker 1: all again meet in the light of understanding. Eleanor Roosevelt

637
00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:48,840
Speaker 1: said a woman is like a hot tea bag. You

638
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:51,440
Speaker 1: never know how strong she is until she gets in

639
00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:54,840
Speaker 1: hot water. This guest, Kim Kim, has a story of

640
00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:58,279
Speaker 1: the hot water. She has been in countless times. She

641
00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:02,360
Speaker 1: is still willing to fight for her rights to affordable housing.

642
00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:06,960
Speaker 1: And here is her story. While we're in this conversation

643
00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:11,480
Speaker 1: about economic injustice as well as housing injustice, I have

644
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:16,400
Speaker 1: another resident from Chinatown Echo Park as well in Chinatown

645
00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:19,520
Speaker 1: Echo Park because I'd spoken to two people, so let

646
00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:24,360
Speaker 1: let's introduce my new guest. She is another hard worker

647
00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:26,440
Speaker 1: and she wants to talk to us about our story.

648
00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:29,520
Speaker 1: So tell us who's your name is? My name's Kean.

649
00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:34,080
Speaker 1: I've been lived in the nine Evers Street Apartment A

650
00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:39,360
Speaker 1: for fifteen years. Usually. I come from Cambodian, Okay, I

651
00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:46,239
Speaker 1: left my countries after the war nineteen seventy nine. Yes,

652
00:38:46,719 --> 00:38:49,520
Speaker 1: were you a kid or were you adult? Little kid? Yes?

653
00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:53,719
Speaker 1: But everything hit me. It's like a nightmare for me.

654
00:38:54,760 --> 00:38:59,239
Speaker 1: But we didn't. We never give up and talk about

655
00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:02,719
Speaker 1: my whole such away life. I never lived in California.

656
00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:06,759
Speaker 1: I used to live in Virginia, Okay. I have a

657
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:12,520
Speaker 1: sponsor by men of not Hurt nineteen eighty they spawned

658
00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:18,600
Speaker 1: us to the United States, but start the beginning nineteen

659
00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:21,560
Speaker 1: seventy nine, we left Camboding after the war. Did you

660
00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:23,920
Speaker 1: did your parents come with you? Are you? Basically my

661
00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:26,920
Speaker 1: mom and dad and my brother and sister we came together.

662
00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:29,680
Speaker 1: So their parents her parents are here as well. Yes,

663
00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:32,160
Speaker 1: but they not live in California. They live in Virginia.

664
00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:36,880
Speaker 1: Only made that live in here? Yes, you're rebel, so

665
00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:39,480
Speaker 1: you wanted to leave Virginia to come here? So what

666
00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:41,680
Speaker 1: made you come here? Health? My health went down so

667
00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:44,439
Speaker 1: bad a year two thousand and three, I almost lost

668
00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:47,480
Speaker 1: my life. Oh, my goodness. Yes, yes, I'm sorry to

669
00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:51,840
Speaker 1: hear that. All right, so you look healthier now, So

670
00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:56,160
Speaker 1: how did you come to Chinatown? What did you look here? Well?

671
00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:59,319
Speaker 1: First time, I have a very good best friend. His

672
00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:02,960
Speaker 1: name Bobby, but I'm rap friend. Him looked like my brother.

673
00:40:03,239 --> 00:40:05,400
Speaker 1: He take care of me everything, he said. And I

674
00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:07,200
Speaker 1: talked to him. He said, well, can you come to

675
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:10,279
Speaker 1: La try to find out what's going on? First I

676
00:40:10,320 --> 00:40:13,840
Speaker 1: came to visit. I didn't plan to live here because

677
00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:17,239
Speaker 1: it's too much on me. And then he said, won't

678
00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:19,200
Speaker 1: you try it? Come If you don't lie that you

679
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:21,279
Speaker 1: can go back to Virginia. I said, okay, I can,

680
00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:24,719
Speaker 1: and in your two thousand and four. On June, I

681
00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:27,680
Speaker 1: came to LA. But on that time I don't have

682
00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:31,280
Speaker 1: no job. I live in the basement. What's her friend?

683
00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:34,480
Speaker 1: I paid three hundred dollars And then Bobby told me

684
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:37,359
Speaker 1: what kind of job did you do? Interesting to work?

685
00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:40,279
Speaker 1: I say any kind because I want to be on

686
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:42,360
Speaker 1: my own two feet. I don't want to depend on

687
00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:45,880
Speaker 1: the government money. I don't depend on nobody except myself.

688
00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:50,440
Speaker 1: And then suddenly I got a job at the Hollywood

689
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:53,400
Speaker 1: Clark Casino. I worked seeing the first day behind me

690
00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:59,319
Speaker 1: on August the twenty second you two thousand and four year,

691
00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:03,160
Speaker 1: two thousand four. And after that I worked there for

692
00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:06,600
Speaker 1: one week and then decide to move out because I

693
00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:08,399
Speaker 1: don't like to live in the basement because a lot

694
00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:11,560
Speaker 1: of dues noises, and I want to keep my health

695
00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:15,239
Speaker 1: is healthy. And then finally I found the play that

696
00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:19,120
Speaker 1: I lived in nine twenty Everard Street on April fifteenth, year,

697
00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:21,759
Speaker 1: two thousand and fourth. I lived there, seen the day

698
00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:25,960
Speaker 1: one until now. So tell us, like you're mentioning what

699
00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:29,160
Speaker 1: your health is again, I'm pointing out I'm hearing the

700
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:33,400
Speaker 1: interspersion of the bootstrapping model, Like you came here, you

701
00:41:33,520 --> 00:41:35,799
Speaker 1: wanted to stand up on your own two feed, you

702
00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:40,560
Speaker 1: wanted to work hard, and you believe that this country

703
00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:42,680
Speaker 1: was the land of milk and honey. You got a job,

704
00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:48,400
Speaker 1: you got a place. But this milk and honey became poisonous.

705
00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:51,560
Speaker 1: What happened? Tell us what is going on now? Okay?

706
00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:57,440
Speaker 1: On last year, on July sixteen, and the first owner,

707
00:41:57,760 --> 00:42:01,040
Speaker 1: by Robert chain, Hey, you given't not to say, oh,

708
00:42:01,200 --> 00:42:05,759
Speaker 1: somebody come inspect the Housekeep told everybody keep clean and

709
00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:08,879
Speaker 1: nice and neat. And I told him, I say, okay,

710
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:11,880
Speaker 1: no problem. And I told everybody to keep the house

711
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:14,160
Speaker 1: clean and nice, because I even keep the house for

712
00:42:14,239 --> 00:42:18,839
Speaker 1: fifteen years for them put the trush, can everything nice

713
00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:23,600
Speaker 1: and clean for fifteen years? See July sixteen, we received

714
00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:27,240
Speaker 1: that letter. Just come to inspection and we did clean

715
00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:30,480
Speaker 1: and nice. And after two weeks later on we received

716
00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:34,200
Speaker 1: the convention note for sixty days, then we have to

717
00:42:34,239 --> 00:42:37,319
Speaker 1: move out. I was shocked when I get off from work.

718
00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:40,319
Speaker 1: I don't know what to do. My whole heart just

719
00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:43,399
Speaker 1: sink to the bottom nowhere, you know. I just start

720
00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:47,239
Speaker 1: to cry to myself. I said, what can we do?

721
00:42:47,719 --> 00:42:52,080
Speaker 1: You know? And then suddenly her Grandmam come and talk

722
00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:55,600
Speaker 1: to me and say, oh, Kim, we have some community

723
00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:58,200
Speaker 1: of Chinatown that can help. I say, oh you sure?

724
00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:01,840
Speaker 1: She said yes, and then we come to her apartment.

725
00:43:01,920 --> 00:43:05,560
Speaker 1: We meeting. I meet with Gray a lot, a bunch

726
00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:08,600
Speaker 1: of community of Chinatown. I remember most of their name.

727
00:43:09,520 --> 00:43:12,879
Speaker 1: Every single Sunday we have a meeting at nine at

728
00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:17,279
Speaker 1: ten o'clock what tried to do to fight for all

729
00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:23,840
Speaker 1: living there? And then on August the if I'm not wrong,

730
00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:27,719
Speaker 1: it's on August the eight. On Saturday, we have a

731
00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:32,680
Speaker 1: comfort talking to people. I was shocked. I don't believe it.

732
00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:35,440
Speaker 1: I thought, I'm so so lonely by myself and my

733
00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:39,359
Speaker 1: two boys, my son, you know. But I see all

734
00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:43,080
Speaker 1: the community of China Town. They come all neighbor to

735
00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:46,560
Speaker 1: support us. I was shocked. I said, Wow, in this world,

736
00:43:46,719 --> 00:43:49,239
Speaker 1: it's not just only me by myself in here. You know,

737
00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:52,000
Speaker 1: a lot of people right here come and support us,

738
00:43:52,320 --> 00:43:54,960
Speaker 1: you know. And then I told myself, as a Kim,

739
00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:57,800
Speaker 1: you have to stand up to fight for all living.

740
00:43:58,239 --> 00:44:00,640
Speaker 1: Were not wait for them to give up so free.

741
00:44:00,880 --> 00:44:03,480
Speaker 1: MO need to live. We work on every single day,

742
00:44:03,800 --> 00:44:08,879
Speaker 1: from sick to whatever, you know. And then I meet

743
00:44:08,920 --> 00:44:12,240
Speaker 1: all these people and I tried to explain every single

744
00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:14,920
Speaker 1: day I try to quote to work. I asked myself,

745
00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:18,160
Speaker 1: why are these rich people try to step us down

746
00:44:18,280 --> 00:44:22,239
Speaker 1: so bad? To the bottom of nowhere. We just asked

747
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:25,279
Speaker 1: the lord play to live, That's it. Why didn't they

748
00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:29,600
Speaker 1: cannot understand that? And after that I meet Gray and

749
00:44:29,640 --> 00:44:32,680
Speaker 1: they keep us support and everything. We tried to fight back,

750
00:44:34,480 --> 00:44:36,480
Speaker 1: and then I went to talk to my friend at work.

751
00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:38,480
Speaker 1: They say, Kim, you have to fight back. This is

752
00:44:38,640 --> 00:44:41,680
Speaker 1: American freedom. I say freedom. What they will take us?

753
00:44:41,760 --> 00:44:45,279
Speaker 1: Go to court? They go sue us. They sue for

754
00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:48,560
Speaker 1: what you need. You didn't do anything wrong, you know,

755
00:44:48,840 --> 00:44:52,880
Speaker 1: like if you convict the law, kill somebody, do something

756
00:44:52,960 --> 00:44:56,279
Speaker 1: you not, why you scared go to the court And

757
00:44:56,320 --> 00:44:58,600
Speaker 1: I say no, I've never been to the court. I

758
00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:01,960
Speaker 1: never convict anything. We're smoking anything. I just work every

759
00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:06,920
Speaker 1: single day to raise my three son, you know. So

760
00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:10,200
Speaker 1: here's the thing like which we have in common is

761
00:45:10,200 --> 00:45:12,520
Speaker 1: the very same thing as being out here. They do

762
00:45:12,560 --> 00:45:16,160
Speaker 1: the same thing to us they I've done to you guys,

763
00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:19,040
Speaker 1: we don't do anything. They could cause so much problems.

764
00:45:19,120 --> 00:45:21,160
Speaker 1: The rich they don't like to see us. They'll call

765
00:45:21,200 --> 00:45:23,719
Speaker 1: the police and harass us and got to go to

766
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:25,680
Speaker 1: the court and things like that. And we have the

767
00:45:25,719 --> 00:45:28,919
Speaker 1: same struggle. Our fight is your fight. And I want

768
00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:30,920
Speaker 1: our listeners to understand that, and I want you to

769
00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:33,200
Speaker 1: understand it. And no matter how great we can be,

770
00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:36,160
Speaker 1: how well behaved we are, we're still in the same

771
00:45:36,200 --> 00:45:39,120
Speaker 1: position as you are. So what is going on now?

772
00:45:39,239 --> 00:45:41,440
Speaker 1: How are you? I feel so proud of you that

773
00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:44,560
Speaker 1: you are fighting back and understanding this. So what's the

774
00:45:44,600 --> 00:45:48,840
Speaker 1: next step? Well, next step, like I told myself and

775
00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:53,799
Speaker 1: I told the CC community, and the fight tennis. If

776
00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:55,960
Speaker 1: we want to stay the play that we live for

777
00:45:55,960 --> 00:46:00,680
Speaker 1: a long time, we need to fight together, okay, And

778
00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:03,880
Speaker 1: I do my best to do what I can, you know,

779
00:46:04,719 --> 00:46:08,160
Speaker 1: to support myself and my boy too. And I need

780
00:46:08,160 --> 00:46:11,600
Speaker 1: the plate to live in one place to stay. That's all.

781
00:46:12,200 --> 00:46:16,279
Speaker 1: I don't buy on nobody. I don't beg anything. Every

782
00:46:16,320 --> 00:46:19,000
Speaker 1: single day since we came to United Say, the first day,

783
00:46:19,080 --> 00:46:21,880
Speaker 1: my dad worked so hard to raise us been they

784
00:46:21,920 --> 00:46:24,040
Speaker 1: were on foot slam and they were on warfare and

785
00:46:24,120 --> 00:46:28,279
Speaker 1: nothing from the government. We were our own life. See,

786
00:46:28,280 --> 00:46:30,400
Speaker 1: even if you do have it's still that's not a

787
00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:33,040
Speaker 1: reason to be attacked. If you are on food stands

788
00:46:33,120 --> 00:46:35,239
Speaker 1: or need help from the government, that's not giving you

789
00:46:35,280 --> 00:46:38,919
Speaker 1: the right to terrorize people. These people are needing help.

790
00:46:39,239 --> 00:46:41,239
Speaker 1: You guys need help, just like I need help and

791
00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:43,480
Speaker 1: everyone else. And one of the things I want to

792
00:46:43,520 --> 00:46:46,440
Speaker 1: point out as well is last thing I want you

793
00:46:46,520 --> 00:46:49,239
Speaker 1: to tell us is what will be the best way

794
00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:53,560
Speaker 1: to help you. I want to whole word to look

795
00:46:53,600 --> 00:46:56,360
Speaker 1: at us, try to support us, to keep us the

796
00:46:56,400 --> 00:47:00,759
Speaker 1: plate to live. Anybody, it don't matter they have rich

797
00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:04,120
Speaker 1: or poor, homeless, anybody, We all human being. We need

798
00:47:04,160 --> 00:47:08,160
Speaker 1: to play to live like they do too, Okay, we

799
00:47:08,239 --> 00:47:11,560
Speaker 1: no matter they rich, they come and kick us like that,

800
00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:14,680
Speaker 1: it'll be pour no money. But we work hard to

801
00:47:14,719 --> 00:47:17,719
Speaker 1: pay all rent every single month. We never miss the day.

802
00:47:18,400 --> 00:47:22,440
Speaker 1: We pay on time, make sure everything. But they're not

803
00:47:22,480 --> 00:47:24,680
Speaker 1: so happy. They tried to kick us out like a

804
00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:28,840
Speaker 1: we are criminals. You know. That is a listen to

805
00:47:28,880 --> 00:47:31,160
Speaker 1: be to be had for the hard worker or the

806
00:47:31,200 --> 00:47:33,959
Speaker 1: bootstrap theory. No matter how hard you work, no matter

807
00:47:33,960 --> 00:47:36,360
Speaker 1: how much you follow the law, you are still in

808
00:47:36,400 --> 00:47:39,080
Speaker 1: the same boat, and it's the same position. I thank

809
00:47:39,120 --> 00:47:41,440
Speaker 1: you all for listening, and I thank you for your story,

810
00:47:41,880 --> 00:47:58,600
Speaker 1: and may we all again meet in the light of understanding.

811
00:48:01,239 --> 00:48:04,879
Speaker 1: For most of history, anonymous was a woman. Virginia Woolf

812
00:48:04,960 --> 00:48:08,640
Speaker 1: said this. However, Charis, a granddaughter of a tendant being

813
00:48:08,960 --> 00:48:12,000
Speaker 1: targeted and harassed, is speaking it on her behalf. Here's

814
00:48:12,040 --> 00:48:15,799
Speaker 1: her story. Good afternoon, This is CEO Henderson from weed

815
00:48:15,960 --> 00:48:19,560
Speaker 1: in House Today. I have a very special group of

816
00:48:19,600 --> 00:48:22,719
Speaker 1: people that I want to introduce. But before we get

817
00:48:22,760 --> 00:48:26,160
Speaker 1: down into the introductions of any degree of the conversation,

818
00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:29,360
Speaker 1: I want to talk about something that's a little look broader.

819
00:48:29,719 --> 00:48:32,239
Speaker 1: When we think of being on house and I have

820
00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:35,000
Speaker 1: been showing people on the show. People on the show

821
00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:38,280
Speaker 1: have been many people that have been living on the streets. However,

822
00:48:38,880 --> 00:48:43,040
Speaker 1: houselessness takes many permutations. For examples, there are a lot

823
00:48:43,040 --> 00:48:45,279
Speaker 1: of college students that are in house that are going

824
00:48:45,280 --> 00:48:47,040
Speaker 1: to be on my show. There are people that have

825
00:48:47,080 --> 00:48:50,719
Speaker 1: been living in there RVs. And here's another dimension of it.

826
00:48:51,040 --> 00:48:54,960
Speaker 1: And this is one step before complete houselessness. What I'm

827
00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:57,759
Speaker 1: talking about is something that happened to me is one

828
00:48:57,800 --> 00:49:00,880
Speaker 1: of the when the rents get expensive after being sick

829
00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:06,040
Speaker 1: or having a new landlord being on house, it's becomes

830
00:49:06,080 --> 00:49:09,920
Speaker 1: a very immediate and reality for many people if you

831
00:49:09,960 --> 00:49:15,200
Speaker 1: don't have the financial wherewithal or the family support to

832
00:49:15,239 --> 00:49:19,600
Speaker 1: help you through this factor. So, speaking on behalf of

833
00:49:19,640 --> 00:49:22,680
Speaker 1: her grandmother, we have a guest in the audience. We're

834
00:49:22,680 --> 00:49:26,040
Speaker 1: going to talk about a population that has largely has

835
00:49:26,080 --> 00:49:30,000
Speaker 1: been hidden. So let's get down to the introductions and

836
00:49:30,040 --> 00:49:31,520
Speaker 1: she's going to tell us a little bit about her

837
00:49:31,520 --> 00:49:37,000
Speaker 1: grandmother and where in the country did she originally come from? Hi,

838
00:49:37,120 --> 00:49:40,720
Speaker 1: this is Cherie's and my grandmother lived in nine twenty

839
00:49:40,760 --> 00:49:44,040
Speaker 1: evera street in Aco Park, and we're been a Mese

840
00:49:44,080 --> 00:49:48,680
Speaker 1: American and my grandma's been living there from about four

841
00:49:48,719 --> 00:49:51,839
Speaker 1: to five years, I would say, and she's been through

842
00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:54,440
Speaker 1: so much and she just want a better life here.

843
00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:58,480
Speaker 1: And she after she came here, then she sponsored her

844
00:49:58,520 --> 00:50:03,160
Speaker 1: and then got her daughter and grandkids here. So they

845
00:50:03,239 --> 00:50:05,920
Speaker 1: lived over there in nine twenty ever rets which is

846
00:50:05,960 --> 00:50:09,680
Speaker 1: fine for the old landlord and stuff. Was she part

847
00:50:09,800 --> 00:50:13,160
Speaker 1: of the Vietnam era or was she before or after?

848
00:50:13,600 --> 00:50:16,279
Speaker 1: What do you mean, Vinnam? There are some residents that

849
00:50:16,360 --> 00:50:18,480
Speaker 1: lived not too far here from here they came they

850
00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:22,160
Speaker 1: were basically seeking asylum through in the viewp of not war.

851
00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:26,279
Speaker 1: So oh no, she's not seeking asylum. So when she

852
00:50:26,360 --> 00:50:29,560
Speaker 1: got here, what did she do for a job, doing anything?

853
00:50:29,680 --> 00:50:31,799
Speaker 1: Just helping out with the house and stuff like that,

854
00:50:31,880 --> 00:50:34,200
Speaker 1: cooking for us and stuff. So she was a homemaker.

855
00:50:34,239 --> 00:50:37,800
Speaker 1: She kept the family nucleus together. So let's take a minute,

856
00:50:37,840 --> 00:50:40,160
Speaker 1: because you stated that there were three different times, and

857
00:50:40,200 --> 00:50:43,600
Speaker 1: I wanted the audience who doesn't know, to walk them

858
00:50:43,640 --> 00:50:47,320
Speaker 1: through the situation. When the first time that you guys

859
00:50:47,320 --> 00:50:50,719
Speaker 1: got to notice, what was this about? What happened? Yeah,

860
00:50:50,840 --> 00:50:54,200
Speaker 1: when we first got it from the original landlord, who

861
00:50:54,280 --> 00:50:58,719
Speaker 1: was that That was Robert Chow. Yeah, he wanted to

862
00:50:58,719 --> 00:51:02,160
Speaker 1: sell his plates because his didn't want it, so you

863
00:51:02,320 --> 00:51:04,880
Speaker 1: have to sell it, which we understand, but for to

864
00:51:05,040 --> 00:51:08,560
Speaker 1: kick us out, that's what's really harsh. These people have

865
00:51:08,600 --> 00:51:12,160
Speaker 1: been living here for years and just suddenly we saw

866
00:51:12,160 --> 00:51:14,880
Speaker 1: the notice on. My grandma was really stressed. She didn't

867
00:51:14,920 --> 00:51:17,400
Speaker 1: know what's going on and stuff, and all these people

868
00:51:17,400 --> 00:51:20,480
Speaker 1: are working people and like, why are they kicking out?

869
00:51:20,480 --> 00:51:24,920
Speaker 1: And I read the paper, So what did you guys

870
00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:28,080
Speaker 1: do to stop that? Well, the good thing is that

871
00:51:28,320 --> 00:51:31,359
Speaker 1: all the tenants are doing group work, so they set

872
00:51:31,440 --> 00:51:33,799
Speaker 1: up and they went to the court, but obviously the

873
00:51:33,840 --> 00:51:35,719
Speaker 1: court couldn't help them. They said it's have to be

874
00:51:36,200 --> 00:51:39,400
Speaker 1: until you get evicted, then we can help. When I

875
00:51:39,440 --> 00:51:42,200
Speaker 1: saw this situation, I was like the landlord picking on

876
00:51:42,960 --> 00:51:45,839
Speaker 1: working class people. These people are a hard worker and

877
00:51:46,480 --> 00:51:49,400
Speaker 1: their English is very limited. It's really upset to me.

878
00:51:49,880 --> 00:51:52,640
Speaker 1: And because they know they couldn't get helped and stuff

879
00:51:52,680 --> 00:51:55,560
Speaker 1: like that. So good thing that I remember Craig, which

880
00:51:55,600 --> 00:51:59,240
Speaker 1: I met at my uncle Craig Wong. He's a nice

881
00:51:59,280 --> 00:52:03,480
Speaker 1: guy from Cceed, which really nice with the group that

882
00:52:03,600 --> 00:52:06,880
Speaker 1: helping people with housing. And I remember him and I

883
00:52:06,920 --> 00:52:09,239
Speaker 1: gave him a call and then he came over and

884
00:52:09,360 --> 00:52:12,560
Speaker 1: he talked to the tenons and we was gathering the group.

885
00:52:13,120 --> 00:52:15,560
Speaker 1: So that was the first time. After that, you guys

886
00:52:15,560 --> 00:52:18,160
Speaker 1: obviously were successful if you gone through three. So what

887
00:52:18,239 --> 00:52:21,000
Speaker 1: happened to the second time, because this didn't just stop

888
00:52:21,040 --> 00:52:23,439
Speaker 1: and it was a happy ending. You guys danced down

889
00:52:23,480 --> 00:52:26,480
Speaker 1: the street. So what happened after second time? Now the

890
00:52:26,520 --> 00:52:30,080
Speaker 1: second time we're still fighting on. They went to protests

891
00:52:30,239 --> 00:52:32,799
Speaker 1: at the new landlord. They still want to who's a

892
00:52:32,800 --> 00:52:36,960
Speaker 1: new land I forgot his name. Yeah, but he have

893
00:52:37,200 --> 00:52:42,400
Speaker 1: a jewelry store in downtown. Rich family. It's got to

894
00:52:42,400 --> 00:52:47,120
Speaker 1: do with envoid properties side thing. So yeah, it's just

895
00:52:47,160 --> 00:52:50,120
Speaker 1: a half. So they went to their house to protests

896
00:52:50,200 --> 00:52:53,640
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. Then the landlord couldn't take it anymore.

897
00:52:53,680 --> 00:52:57,080
Speaker 1: They sold the place the third time to VF Development.

898
00:52:57,520 --> 00:53:00,719
Speaker 1: First it was to me when I heard that part, like, well,

899
00:53:00,760 --> 00:53:02,879
Speaker 1: it's that place they allowed to sell it. It's okay

900
00:53:02,880 --> 00:53:04,880
Speaker 1: as long they don't do anything, that's it. And then

901
00:53:04,920 --> 00:53:08,520
Speaker 1: I looked up VIAV Development. I was like, oh, this

902
00:53:08,600 --> 00:53:11,200
Speaker 1: is strouble because I saw what they did to the

903
00:53:11,280 --> 00:53:13,960
Speaker 1: previous apartment. I was like, this doesn't look good. So

904
00:53:14,280 --> 00:53:18,320
Speaker 1: I was praying that nothing's going to happen, and things happen,

905
00:53:18,440 --> 00:53:21,640
Speaker 1: and they keep changing the rent three times. First they

906
00:53:21,680 --> 00:53:25,160
Speaker 1: send wrong actress, second they give it to this property

907
00:53:25,200 --> 00:53:27,719
Speaker 1: in Santa Monica, and then the third time is they

908
00:53:27,800 --> 00:53:30,080
Speaker 1: change the payment again and tell them to go to

909
00:53:30,160 --> 00:53:33,719
Speaker 1: CBS or they have to pay online which is thirty

910
00:53:33,719 --> 00:53:37,600
Speaker 1: five dollars fee or the CBS four dollar fee cash only,

911
00:53:38,080 --> 00:53:40,640
Speaker 1: and we have to send the code and stuff like that.

912
00:53:40,840 --> 00:53:43,680
Speaker 1: But with the colde my cousin took him like two days.

913
00:53:43,719 --> 00:53:46,759
Speaker 1: They didn't even reach back to us and the time

914
00:53:46,880 --> 00:53:50,239
Speaker 1: is almost up for ready. It just a hassle. I

915
00:53:50,320 --> 00:53:53,200
Speaker 1: just feel like at this point it's just harassment. And

916
00:53:53,239 --> 00:53:55,800
Speaker 1: they just send us recently that they're going to increase

917
00:53:55,840 --> 00:54:01,120
Speaker 1: the rent after sending us eviction notice. Was like, what's

918
00:54:01,160 --> 00:54:04,920
Speaker 1: going on? That sounds confusing. First you're gonna evict me

919
00:54:05,160 --> 00:54:07,440
Speaker 1: and then you're gonna sen a rent increase or before

920
00:54:07,440 --> 00:54:09,560
Speaker 1: the eviction, So as I'm getting evicted, I have to

921
00:54:09,560 --> 00:54:12,399
Speaker 1: pay the rent increase as well. That sounds crazy. So

922
00:54:13,239 --> 00:54:16,040
Speaker 1: what is the next step? What is how is the

923
00:54:16,080 --> 00:54:19,920
Speaker 1: community dealing with this? Well, we're going to gather the

924
00:54:19,960 --> 00:54:24,040
Speaker 1: community and signatuans do something about it, because these people

925
00:54:24,040 --> 00:54:29,200
Speaker 1: are going through a lot, and getting evicted is mentally

926
00:54:29,520 --> 00:54:33,000
Speaker 1: and physically trained. Now, this is the very thing that

927
00:54:33,080 --> 00:54:36,440
Speaker 1: I want to talk about. I had had a meeting

928
00:54:36,480 --> 00:54:38,759
Speaker 1: this week and I had made this very big point.

929
00:54:39,239 --> 00:54:41,800
Speaker 1: A lot of the people residents that are being evicted

930
00:54:41,840 --> 00:54:46,680
Speaker 1: now are have been, from what many accounts, are hardworking,

931
00:54:47,120 --> 00:54:50,720
Speaker 1: and in that idea is that there was a pecking

932
00:54:50,840 --> 00:54:54,759
Speaker 1: order because of the unhoused that we're hardworking, and some

933
00:54:54,800 --> 00:54:56,960
Speaker 1: of us still have jobs and we're still on the street,

934
00:54:57,400 --> 00:55:00,080
Speaker 1: and yet we have been pitted against each other to

935
00:55:00,160 --> 00:55:03,080
Speaker 1: think that we are not worthy to be helped. And

936
00:55:03,239 --> 00:55:06,279
Speaker 1: I want this podcast to be an education for the

937
00:55:06,800 --> 00:55:10,000
Speaker 1: on house as well as the working class that are

938
00:55:10,000 --> 00:55:12,680
Speaker 1: in there, that we're not criminals, that we have had

939
00:55:12,719 --> 00:55:15,680
Speaker 1: places too, and we are on the other end of

940
00:55:15,680 --> 00:55:18,960
Speaker 1: what you may be going through now. So as a

941
00:55:18,960 --> 00:55:23,000
Speaker 1: result of that, if we can ban our resources together

942
00:55:23,400 --> 00:55:26,000
Speaker 1: instead of blaming and pulling fingers at each other and

943
00:55:26,120 --> 00:55:29,759
Speaker 1: using the weaponized sources of white supremacy against each other,

944
00:55:30,120 --> 00:55:32,279
Speaker 1: we could be able to stop a lot of this

945
00:55:32,400 --> 00:55:36,960
Speaker 1: kind of thing. So, is there anything you want us

946
00:55:36,960 --> 00:55:39,040
Speaker 1: to do as the listeners to be able to help

947
00:55:39,080 --> 00:55:43,480
Speaker 1: you guys? Just sign petition and speak up, speak up

948
00:55:43,520 --> 00:55:48,400
Speaker 1: for justice and stuff and against these evil predator landlord

949
00:55:48,480 --> 00:55:52,400
Speaker 1: and stuff like that buying small apartments in the community

950
00:55:52,440 --> 00:55:56,880
Speaker 1: and then started kicking tenants out and remodeling the property

951
00:55:57,000 --> 00:56:05,040
Speaker 1: and raise outrageous pride rent increases two increases for these apartments.

952
00:56:05,640 --> 00:56:08,600
Speaker 1: But they raised this against you guys because you guys

953
00:56:09,880 --> 00:56:13,440
Speaker 1: are hard workers. Because here's the thing. The bootstrapping theory

954
00:56:13,600 --> 00:56:15,960
Speaker 1: is if you pick up your if yourself up by

955
00:56:15,960 --> 00:56:19,560
Speaker 1: your bootstraps, then everything will be fine. But you guys,

956
00:56:19,680 --> 00:56:21,959
Speaker 1: like if you said yourself work hard, but you still

957
00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:26,399
Speaker 1: will being attacked and harassed. How so the bootstrapping work

958
00:56:26,480 --> 00:56:29,200
Speaker 1: model doesn't work. It's been a smoke scring and now

959
00:56:29,239 --> 00:56:32,080
Speaker 1: the smoke is clearing and realize we are all in

960
00:56:32,120 --> 00:56:34,399
Speaker 1: the same boat, no matter what boat we came in under.

961
00:56:35,080 --> 00:56:37,600
Speaker 1: This is Steo Henderson from The Weedy On House and

962
00:56:37,640 --> 00:56:39,920
Speaker 1: I thank you all for listening and maybe we again

963
00:56:39,960 --> 00:56:53,840
Speaker 1: meet in the light of understanding. This episode could not

964
00:56:53,920 --> 00:56:57,040
Speaker 1: have been done without the help at support. Now that

965
00:56:57,120 --> 00:56:59,239
Speaker 1: I am so excited to say that some of you

966
00:56:59,239 --> 00:57:01,839
Speaker 1: guys have a contrue to my Patreon and I give

967
00:57:01,920 --> 00:57:04,319
Speaker 1: a very heart feel thank you to all of you

968
00:57:04,760 --> 00:57:08,319
Speaker 1: that have reached out and been impacted by my episodes

969
00:57:08,640 --> 00:57:11,880
Speaker 1: as well as financially contributed. I wanted to get particular

970
00:57:11,920 --> 00:57:16,760
Speaker 1: thanks to my editor who has been diligently and unsung

971
00:57:17,360 --> 00:57:21,400
Speaker 1: that has helped me get these podcast episodes out Call Nieto.

972
00:57:21,720 --> 00:57:25,520
Speaker 1: I also wanted to thank Jed Period, excellent organizer in

973
00:57:25,720 --> 00:57:29,200
Speaker 1: order for me to get into the unhoused encampments in

974
00:57:29,280 --> 00:57:32,360
Speaker 1: order for me to interview some people. I like to

975
00:57:32,360 --> 00:57:34,840
Speaker 1: thank the residents of Chatsworth. I like to thank the

976
00:57:34,880 --> 00:57:39,480
Speaker 1: residents of downtown La Echo Park as well as Hollywood

977
00:57:39,560 --> 00:57:42,240
Speaker 1: and other areas not only in Los Angeles but also

978
00:57:42,440 --> 00:57:45,680
Speaker 1: around the world. I also wanted to thank some very

979
00:57:45,800 --> 00:57:49,560
Speaker 1: key people that have helped me while I have been unhoused.

980
00:57:50,000 --> 00:57:54,640
Speaker 1: That is Michelle lub from zim Bistro Zan and Mario

981
00:57:54,920 --> 00:57:58,320
Speaker 1: Craig Wang from Cceed, as well as many of the

982
00:57:58,360 --> 00:58:04,240
Speaker 1: neighborhood residents here in Chinatown. Again, we are strongest by

983
00:58:04,720 --> 00:58:07,560
Speaker 1: our weakest link, and our weakest link is stronger when

984
00:58:07,600 --> 00:58:10,760
Speaker 1: we band together. So when any of us have faced

985
00:58:11,080 --> 00:58:15,800
Speaker 1: an insurmountable challenge, it is not always necessary to use

986
00:58:16,560 --> 00:58:20,920
Speaker 1: or demonize a vulnerable population, but we can do better

987
00:58:21,440 --> 00:58:25,840
Speaker 1: by embracing and helping one another instead of weaponizing police

988
00:58:25,840 --> 00:58:30,200
Speaker 1: and city council apparatus. Thank you all, and may we

989
00:58:30,280 --> 00:58:44,440
Speaker 1: again meet in the light of understanding world of Parks.

990
00:58:44,440 --> 00:58:47,320
Speaker 1: The matriarch of the civil rights era is remembered saying,

991
00:58:47,960 --> 00:58:49,640
Speaker 1: I would like to be known as a person who

992
00:58:49,680 --> 00:58:53,440
Speaker 1: is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity

993
00:58:53,480 --> 00:58:57,480
Speaker 1: for all people. This next guest is Melissa said Eira,

994
00:58:58,200 --> 00:59:01,960
Speaker 1: a person that has been moved to see the income

995
00:59:02,160 --> 00:59:05,880
Speaker 1: in justice as well as food and security and food injustice,

996
00:59:06,000 --> 00:59:08,720
Speaker 1: and she decides to do something about it. She goes

997
00:59:08,760 --> 00:59:15,080
Speaker 1: to different encampments and provide fresh, quality food from produce, subs,

998
00:59:16,360 --> 00:59:19,200
Speaker 1: cold cuts, you name it. Quality food that you and

999
00:59:19,240 --> 00:59:23,160
Speaker 1: I would eat in restaurants, in restaurants or in grocery stores.

1000
00:59:23,440 --> 00:59:27,720
Speaker 1: She doesn't serve that government tasteless or horrific food that

1001
00:59:27,840 --> 00:59:32,360
Speaker 1: sometimes shelters do because of financial limitations. Without further ado,

1002
00:59:33,080 --> 00:59:39,240
Speaker 1: let us welcome Melissa Ossidero. Feminists. Before the term was made,

1003
00:59:39,320 --> 00:59:42,280
Speaker 1: it was the forties Manila. Okay, this was a nineteen

1004
00:59:42,320 --> 00:59:48,720
Speaker 1: forties Manila. Okay. So I'm on the mike, Okay, this

1005
00:59:48,880 --> 00:59:52,440
Speaker 1: was like nineteen forties Manila thing so like I imagine,

1006
00:59:52,760 --> 00:59:56,720
Speaker 1: you know, like postal war, like you know, in this

1007
00:59:56,840 --> 01:00:01,560
Speaker 1: kind of country, or I'm having someone like that woman

1008
01:00:01,840 --> 01:00:04,760
Speaker 1: owning her own business being able to hire. I think

1009
01:00:04,800 --> 01:00:07,120
Speaker 1: at the paint of her career she hired like at

1010
01:00:07,200 --> 01:00:10,440
Speaker 1: least she had over like like nineties and which just

1011
01:00:10,520 --> 01:00:12,880
Speaker 1: like it was that successful. So she had a sense

1012
01:00:12,920 --> 01:00:17,320
Speaker 1: of activism too, Yes, absolutely, And I think like the

1013
01:00:17,400 --> 01:00:20,360
Speaker 1: town that my mom grew up in spilled Somula, And

1014
01:00:21,320 --> 01:00:25,120
Speaker 1: because my grandmother hired people from the town, right, she

1015
01:00:25,280 --> 01:00:28,919
Speaker 1: understood what each family was going through. So my mom

1016
01:00:28,960 --> 01:00:31,080
Speaker 1: even told me there like there were there were times

1017
01:00:31,120 --> 01:00:34,160
Speaker 1: where some of her workers would need actual help and

1018
01:00:34,200 --> 01:00:36,640
Speaker 1: so they would loan, you know, they would like loan

1019
01:00:37,000 --> 01:00:39,560
Speaker 1: like my grandmother would own the money, and that's that

1020
01:00:39,640 --> 01:00:43,440
Speaker 1: kind of stuff. And so it was always like the

1021
01:00:43,480 --> 01:00:45,440
Speaker 1: state where my mom said there was always food at

1022
01:00:45,440 --> 01:00:49,760
Speaker 1: the table. She knew that sometimes it was always for them.

1023
01:00:49,920 --> 01:00:52,200
Speaker 1: She knew that there was kids from like you know,

1024
01:00:52,240 --> 01:00:55,640
Speaker 1: from the workers or whatever they would come through, and

1025
01:00:55,800 --> 01:00:58,720
Speaker 1: that my mom always I think that was a mark

1026
01:00:58,760 --> 01:01:02,680
Speaker 1: or two of my wealth for our family was our

1027
01:01:02,720 --> 01:01:05,120
Speaker 1: food always had to be like that. There's always to

1028
01:01:05,160 --> 01:01:08,200
Speaker 1: be like a nice so I realized I do that, Yes,

1029
01:01:08,640 --> 01:01:12,160
Speaker 1: I do that in my work, Like I feel like

1030
01:01:12,400 --> 01:01:15,320
Speaker 1: I want I want our house folks to feel at home.

1031
01:01:15,400 --> 01:01:18,160
Speaker 1: That's why I want an abundance to food. Not just

1032
01:01:18,160 --> 01:01:23,160
Speaker 1: an abundance, but also a choice. Yes, the choice that

1033
01:01:23,160 --> 01:01:25,080
Speaker 1: I used to that you get at home just because

1034
01:01:25,960 --> 01:01:28,920
Speaker 1: we have beef today, And like I was telling him, like,

1035
01:01:28,960 --> 01:01:30,920
Speaker 1: let's just because we have beef doesn't mean like you know,

1036
01:01:31,000 --> 01:01:32,680
Speaker 1: like say, if you're a vegetarian, you're not You're still

1037
01:01:32,720 --> 01:01:35,120
Speaker 1: gonna be hungry. So how about we have like a

1038
01:01:35,160 --> 01:01:38,640
Speaker 1: beautiful dish of vegetables, not when everyone can do, or

1039
01:01:38,680 --> 01:01:42,000
Speaker 1: like when I was getting the food and like, there's

1040
01:01:42,040 --> 01:01:45,040
Speaker 1: a gentleman out an Echo park. He likes a hummus.

1041
01:01:44,800 --> 01:01:48,000
Speaker 1: He loves your hummus because he's a vegetarian. And when

1042
01:01:48,000 --> 01:01:51,040
Speaker 1: you brought the vegetarian wraps he was able to eat.

1043
01:01:51,480 --> 01:01:54,640
Speaker 1: I'm more so too so, And I think that's sort

1044
01:01:54,640 --> 01:01:57,480
Speaker 1: of what it is. What really got me was family.

1045
01:01:57,640 --> 01:02:00,480
Speaker 1: It was the base of what I were My work

1046
01:02:00,640 --> 01:02:05,000
Speaker 1: is because my family showed me by example that you

1047
01:02:05,320 --> 01:02:08,280
Speaker 1: that really love language. For me was food. It's always

1048
01:02:08,320 --> 01:02:10,200
Speaker 1: going to be food for me. That's why I think

1049
01:02:10,280 --> 01:02:13,040
Speaker 1: there's so much passion behind what I do and social

1050
01:02:13,120 --> 01:02:16,600
Speaker 1: activism is and food of course, but I think that

1051
01:02:16,680 --> 01:02:19,240
Speaker 1: also too was kind of natural for my grandmothers because

1052
01:02:19,280 --> 01:02:22,040
Speaker 1: I felt like, again, like you're right, my, my, my

1053
01:02:22,040 --> 01:02:25,120
Speaker 1: grandmothers are all were natural feminists at the time where

1054
01:02:25,160 --> 01:02:29,320
Speaker 1: a lot of them we're just expected to be homemakers,

1055
01:02:29,640 --> 01:02:32,080
Speaker 1: but they all were entrepreneurs. They were all mistiness women,

1056
01:02:32,760 --> 01:02:36,320
Speaker 1: and they all knew like they had to do more

1057
01:02:36,640 --> 01:02:38,680
Speaker 1: to be able not just to put food on the table,

1058
01:02:38,680 --> 01:02:41,720
Speaker 1: but to make sure that everything everyone, not just their families,

1059
01:02:41,720 --> 01:02:44,560
Speaker 1: but everyone was fed. And so I think that I

1060
01:02:44,600 --> 01:02:46,720
Speaker 1: think that runs through my I think that courses through

1061
01:02:46,720 --> 01:02:51,160
Speaker 1: my veins too. I feel like that's that's that's where

1062
01:02:51,200 --> 01:02:53,919
Speaker 1: it is, It's it's who I am. You know, there's

1063
01:02:53,960 --> 01:02:56,560
Speaker 1: a similarity, and we were talking about it, Melissa, there's

1064
01:02:56,560 --> 01:02:59,200
Speaker 1: a similarity in the African American community as well as

1065
01:02:59,200 --> 01:03:01,880
Speaker 1: the Filipino commit to do where and during the Civil

1066
01:03:01,960 --> 01:03:06,240
Speaker 1: rights era, and many times there were African American women

1067
01:03:06,640 --> 01:03:11,880
Speaker 1: cooking for the civil rights leaders and well as connecting

1068
01:03:11,880 --> 01:03:15,120
Speaker 1: with the family because due to the legacy of slavery

1069
01:03:15,240 --> 01:03:17,360
Speaker 1: and jam Crow and things like that, we had a

1070
01:03:17,360 --> 01:03:19,840
Speaker 1: lot of play cousins and a lot of people from

1071
01:03:20,600 --> 01:03:24,160
Speaker 1: you know, from the neighborhood that we fed because we

1072
01:03:24,200 --> 01:03:28,760
Speaker 1: all were in the same economic dire straits. So I

1073
01:03:28,800 --> 01:03:32,360
Speaker 1: see that link as well. So that's very much. Look,

1074
01:03:32,400 --> 01:03:37,160
Speaker 1: you're right, like I think similar in Filipino family structure,

1075
01:03:37,280 --> 01:03:40,760
Speaker 1: we also have play cousins. They're not played to us

1076
01:03:40,760 --> 01:03:43,560
Speaker 1: by blood, but it's just like because they're tight family friends.

1077
01:03:44,400 --> 01:03:47,320
Speaker 1: My parents just taught us that just because they're not

1078
01:03:47,440 --> 01:03:50,280
Speaker 1: yours is that you're not responsible for them. Truth. It's

1079
01:03:50,360 --> 01:03:54,640
Speaker 1: like that that sort of connection of responsibility of community

1080
01:03:54,720 --> 01:03:57,880
Speaker 1: responsibility that I think I learned from my parents. Just

1081
01:03:57,920 --> 01:04:00,680
Speaker 1: because we have food, you have to make sure that

1082
01:04:00,760 --> 01:04:03,160
Speaker 1: everyone gets to me. And so I think that's just

1083
01:04:03,680 --> 01:04:08,040
Speaker 1: that's the base of my work and also kind of

1084
01:04:08,040 --> 01:04:12,400
Speaker 1: honoring the work of women like your mom during the

1085
01:04:12,400 --> 01:04:16,760
Speaker 1: Summer Rights era, the work of the Black Panthers. I've

1086
01:04:16,760 --> 01:04:18,800
Speaker 1: read a lot about the Black Panthers, and I think

1087
01:04:19,320 --> 01:04:21,160
Speaker 1: I want to make sure that people understand that the

1088
01:04:21,240 --> 01:04:24,400
Speaker 1: history of food justice as well, So the Black Panthers

1089
01:04:24,440 --> 01:04:28,560
Speaker 1: were very much key. And making sure that you know,

1090
01:04:28,640 --> 01:04:32,440
Speaker 1: a lot of our food programs in the US, especially

1091
01:04:33,120 --> 01:04:37,560
Speaker 1: breakfast and like food for Kids was started by them,

1092
01:04:38,040 --> 01:04:40,000
Speaker 1: and I think that's what I wanted. But I think

1093
01:04:40,000 --> 01:04:43,080
Speaker 1: that's also kind of what I want to use as

1094
01:04:43,080 --> 01:04:46,760
Speaker 1: a platform for my work. Fun fact, the Women and Children,

1095
01:04:47,400 --> 01:04:51,440
Speaker 1: Women infant and Children is from the Black Panthers. That's

1096
01:04:51,520 --> 01:04:54,920
Speaker 1: where that model is. So where there's low income families

1097
01:04:54,960 --> 01:04:58,160
Speaker 1: from all races and all walks of life that they understand.

1098
01:04:58,640 --> 01:05:00,840
Speaker 1: That was one of the positive things the Black Panthers.

1099
01:05:01,080 --> 01:05:03,440
Speaker 1: That's one of his enduring legacies. So whenever you hear

1100
01:05:03,440 --> 01:05:06,560
Speaker 1: about Black Panthers in the negative light they had, that's

1101
01:05:06,880 --> 01:05:08,919
Speaker 1: of course not true. They had a lot of positive faith.

1102
01:05:09,040 --> 01:05:11,640
Speaker 1: I've been I've been actually studying a lot of what

1103
01:05:11,680 --> 01:05:15,560
Speaker 1: the Black Panthers did, and even I attended a few

1104
01:05:15,560 --> 01:05:18,360
Speaker 1: workshops out in like in cal Poly there was a

1105
01:05:18,360 --> 01:05:21,040
Speaker 1: scholar who actually like did I think, enter dissertation, but

1106
01:05:21,120 --> 01:05:25,640
Speaker 1: she talked about how just even the framework of the

1107
01:05:25,680 --> 01:05:29,640
Speaker 1: Black Panthers, like free pre program, was just phenomenal in

1108
01:05:29,680 --> 01:05:32,960
Speaker 1: there and in its scale because they were able to

1109
01:05:33,480 --> 01:05:39,080
Speaker 1: just you know, already kind of integrate like existing sort

1110
01:05:39,080 --> 01:05:43,040
Speaker 1: of groups and communities and systems. That's what made it well,

1111
01:05:43,040 --> 01:05:45,520
Speaker 1: that's what made it successful. Like you don't have to

1112
01:05:45,560 --> 01:05:47,960
Speaker 1: ir reinvent the wheel work with the groups that are

1113
01:05:47,880 --> 01:05:50,080
Speaker 1: already there. And I think that's also what I'm trying

1114
01:05:50,120 --> 01:05:53,000
Speaker 1: to do. That's how that's how our partnership got built,

1115
01:05:53,040 --> 01:05:57,400
Speaker 1: right because you already know the framework of Chinatown. Harvey

1116
01:05:57,440 --> 01:06:01,960
Speaker 1: knows the framework of a public. You know, there's so

1117
01:06:02,120 --> 01:06:04,920
Speaker 1: my unhuse friends and already in Kaytown and also do

1118
01:06:04,960 --> 01:06:07,240
Speaker 1: the same thing. Why would I have to double your

1119
01:06:07,240 --> 01:06:10,880
Speaker 1: work and you already understand have the connections to your friends,

1120
01:06:12,760 --> 01:06:14,480
Speaker 1: and so I think that's what it is. I think

1121
01:06:14,480 --> 01:06:17,200
Speaker 1: that's what makes I think my work differend is I

1122
01:06:17,240 --> 01:06:21,680
Speaker 1: want to make sure that the leaders behind getting the

1123
01:06:21,720 --> 01:06:24,440
Speaker 1: food is are you know? Are you guys? I think

1124
01:06:24,440 --> 01:06:27,600
Speaker 1: that's one one thing So I think I want to

1125
01:06:27,680 --> 01:06:32,040
Speaker 1: keep pushing for is leadership in our unhoused community has

1126
01:06:32,080 --> 01:06:35,560
Speaker 1: to be from unhoused folks. And for me, I will

1127
01:06:35,600 --> 01:06:39,600
Speaker 1: model a lot of that stuff and take you know,

1128
01:06:39,800 --> 01:06:42,040
Speaker 1: like advice from you and look at how look at

1129
01:06:42,040 --> 01:06:45,560
Speaker 1: the impact that we've made. We like, I mean, we talked,

1130
01:06:45,640 --> 01:06:47,760
Speaker 1: we talked about this like we we help a family

1131
01:06:47,800 --> 01:06:50,720
Speaker 1: the other day with like, you know, ten kids. You

1132
01:06:50,880 --> 01:06:53,880
Speaker 1: because you you knew how to talk to her. So

1133
01:06:53,960 --> 01:06:57,040
Speaker 1: I think that's that's. That's it too, like it's it's

1134
01:06:57,120 --> 01:06:59,560
Speaker 1: I think it's beyond, it's beyond with the food in

1135
01:06:59,600 --> 01:07:03,320
Speaker 1: the gateway its incidentally, it's funny we say that. Which

1136
01:07:03,320 --> 01:07:07,040
Speaker 1: we're right now at Chinatown Restaurant and Jake Walk and

1137
01:07:07,080 --> 01:07:11,120
Speaker 1: we have the big spread as well for the listeners.

1138
01:07:11,160 --> 01:07:15,160
Speaker 1: We have hot garlic, bee, Shanghai ribs, sweet and sid

1139
01:07:15,280 --> 01:07:19,160
Speaker 1: pork and sesame chicken. So if you're hungry you want

1140
01:07:19,160 --> 01:07:21,520
Speaker 1: to make want to come down to eat here. So

1141
01:07:21,600 --> 01:07:24,520
Speaker 1: one other question I have asked is like, where do

1142
01:07:24,600 --> 01:07:31,160
Speaker 1: you see yourself with this movement? Oh? Well, I basically

1143
01:07:31,640 --> 01:07:34,240
Speaker 1: I'm very much kind of steep in the food just

1144
01:07:34,280 --> 01:07:37,080
Speaker 1: as part of it, the same way as your mom

1145
01:07:37,240 --> 01:07:40,560
Speaker 1: and just the women that we're feeding the movement. I

1146
01:07:40,560 --> 01:07:45,840
Speaker 1: think I'm passionate about feeding the movement. I'm passionate about

1147
01:07:45,880 --> 01:07:49,920
Speaker 1: making sure that people are nourished and to remind ourselves

1148
01:07:50,000 --> 01:07:54,360
Speaker 1: to that, you know that we need to be you know,

1149
01:07:54,480 --> 01:07:57,320
Speaker 1: we need to be careful, And I think that's sort

1150
01:07:57,360 --> 01:07:59,880
Speaker 1: of them symbolism for me of food is just the

1151
01:08:00,120 --> 01:08:04,360
Speaker 1: we have to be careful by and I think I

1152
01:08:04,360 --> 01:08:08,120
Speaker 1: will always see myself in food, hopefully at some point

1153
01:08:08,240 --> 01:08:12,400
Speaker 1: help change policy and how we can get food to

1154
01:08:12,920 --> 01:08:16,360
Speaker 1: on House community. I think I study the food system

1155
01:08:16,439 --> 01:08:18,559
Speaker 1: so much and I'm just so passionate about making sure

1156
01:08:19,120 --> 01:08:22,559
Speaker 1: that you know that we just have food on a table.

1157
01:08:23,479 --> 01:08:27,320
Speaker 1: Many on House members are receiving what it's called Snap

1158
01:08:27,600 --> 01:08:31,479
Speaker 1: food benefits, but President Trump has decided to cut that

1159
01:08:31,560 --> 01:08:36,679
Speaker 1: for over seven hundred thousand people. And why Melissa's work

1160
01:08:36,720 --> 01:08:39,760
Speaker 1: is so important is because you have limitations on the

1161
01:08:39,760 --> 01:08:43,639
Speaker 1: food that you get. And for example, I can't go

1162
01:08:43,760 --> 01:08:47,080
Speaker 1: and use my SNAP benefits for this restaurant because this

1163
01:08:47,160 --> 01:08:50,080
Speaker 1: restaurant is not approved by the city. I can only

1164
01:08:50,120 --> 01:08:52,759
Speaker 1: go to some places, and some places may be needed.

1165
01:08:52,800 --> 01:08:57,080
Speaker 1: It's great, but they're not always healthy, for example, and

1166
01:08:57,120 --> 01:09:01,200
Speaker 1: they're also the distance. There also are in places where

1167
01:09:01,320 --> 01:09:04,400
Speaker 1: Neon House has to go far flung places and if

1168
01:09:04,400 --> 01:09:09,080
Speaker 1: you have financial issues with transportation, you can't get to them.

1169
01:09:09,320 --> 01:09:12,600
Speaker 1: So when she's able to provide fresh food like you

1170
01:09:12,600 --> 01:09:17,719
Speaker 1: would eat in the house, that's like good sandwiches, boards, hits,

1171
01:09:17,800 --> 01:09:20,639
Speaker 1: and things like that. This is why when I notice

1172
01:09:20,680 --> 01:09:23,400
Speaker 1: anytime I bring these things, the young House community light

1173
01:09:23,520 --> 01:09:26,360
Speaker 1: up or they're surprised at the quality of food. You

1174
01:09:26,479 --> 01:09:29,519
Speaker 1: just don't throw your discarded foods, but it's like still

1175
01:09:29,560 --> 01:09:32,240
Speaker 1: prackaed Yeah, And I think that's that's that's sort of

1176
01:09:32,920 --> 01:09:35,200
Speaker 1: obviously always going to be key, and my work is

1177
01:09:35,240 --> 01:09:38,519
Speaker 1: that I'm not going to go after things just because

1178
01:09:39,040 --> 01:09:41,639
Speaker 1: it's there. I want to make sure that the unhoused

1179
01:09:41,640 --> 01:09:45,640
Speaker 1: community gets access to food that we get. I'm not

1180
01:09:45,680 --> 01:09:48,439
Speaker 1: gonna I was telling last earlier, I'm not going to

1181
01:09:48,479 --> 01:09:52,000
Speaker 1: be feeding the sandwiches I have, Like I'm going to

1182
01:09:52,040 --> 01:09:54,439
Speaker 1: feed those things the same things to my mom and

1183
01:09:54,560 --> 01:09:57,439
Speaker 1: I mean to my brother, Like I want to make

1184
01:09:57,479 --> 01:09:59,840
Speaker 1: sure that the same thing that I would feed my

1185
01:10:00,040 --> 01:10:02,960
Speaker 1: family is what I feed is what I bring out here,

1186
01:10:03,080 --> 01:10:06,800
Speaker 1: because that's just that's that's what everyone deserves, Like food

1187
01:10:06,880 --> 01:10:09,599
Speaker 1: is food is a human right, and I think like

1188
01:10:09,720 --> 01:10:12,280
Speaker 1: that's always going to be where I'm going to go,

1189
01:10:12,320 --> 01:10:14,639
Speaker 1: and whatever intersection I have with this work is always

1190
01:10:14,640 --> 01:10:17,800
Speaker 1: going to be with what lessons to the listeners can

1191
01:10:17,800 --> 01:10:20,240
Speaker 1: take away in order for it to help you as

1192
01:10:20,240 --> 01:10:26,519
Speaker 1: well as to understand about food equity. Wow. God, he's

1193
01:10:26,560 --> 01:10:31,479
Speaker 1: a great question. I think I think what really what

1194
01:10:32,680 --> 01:10:35,519
Speaker 1: it's connected to so many different things, Like I was

1195
01:10:35,520 --> 01:10:40,559
Speaker 1: telling Lex, it's hard to address food justice different branches

1196
01:10:40,560 --> 01:10:42,960
Speaker 1: of food justice without kind of seeing the other parts

1197
01:10:44,360 --> 01:10:49,760
Speaker 1: just because we have you know, like there's God, I

1198
01:10:49,760 --> 01:10:51,320
Speaker 1: don't even know where to start. It's just such a

1199
01:10:51,360 --> 01:10:55,760
Speaker 1: big problem. I have friends who own corner stores in

1200
01:10:56,200 --> 01:10:59,760
Speaker 1: South Central and she has worked she's working on healthy

1201
01:10:59,800 --> 01:11:02,840
Speaker 1: food to access to that area and because she knows that,

1202
01:11:03,040 --> 01:11:05,879
Speaker 1: you know, there isn't a like a healthy grocer for miles,

1203
01:11:07,280 --> 01:11:10,639
Speaker 1: you know, I know, like like Danny, Danny is similar

1204
01:11:10,680 --> 01:11:13,640
Speaker 1: where he has you know, a corner store and skin roll.

1205
01:11:14,240 --> 01:11:16,639
Speaker 1: Because food is so central and it's like access point

1206
01:11:16,720 --> 01:11:20,920
Speaker 1: for a community. It's it's really hard just to frame

1207
01:11:21,000 --> 01:11:23,800
Speaker 1: this on just one answer. It's it's like to be

1208
01:11:23,920 --> 01:11:27,040
Speaker 1: able to get food, you have to make sure that

1209
01:11:27,200 --> 01:11:30,000
Speaker 1: you know, like say, let's frame it with rent. Just

1210
01:11:30,040 --> 01:11:32,880
Speaker 1: think about the percentage that you use for your favorite

1211
01:11:32,880 --> 01:11:35,880
Speaker 1: paycheck to pay for rent. How much is left just

1212
01:11:35,920 --> 01:11:39,280
Speaker 1: to get food? What if say, like you know, say

1213
01:11:39,280 --> 01:11:41,439
Speaker 1: you're just like to to in your home or like

1214
01:11:41,600 --> 01:11:44,559
Speaker 1: you know you have or if you have kids, like

1215
01:11:44,640 --> 01:11:46,800
Speaker 1: what happens after that? You know what I mean? Like

1216
01:11:46,840 --> 01:11:48,680
Speaker 1: to have some friends who like you know, have their

1217
01:11:48,760 --> 01:11:51,439
Speaker 1: kids at school and in school, will just I think,

1218
01:11:51,439 --> 01:11:53,400
Speaker 1: like either like you know, they'll have to like call

1219
01:11:53,479 --> 01:11:56,639
Speaker 1: up school for that day. They freak out because they

1220
01:11:56,800 --> 01:12:00,640
Speaker 1: the moms and the parents rely on that school to

1221
01:12:00,720 --> 01:12:03,360
Speaker 1: be the kid that day. So now they're doing a

1222
01:12:03,400 --> 01:12:07,559
Speaker 1: double shift. Like planny houses, now they have to think

1223
01:12:07,560 --> 01:12:10,200
Speaker 1: about what their kids having to eat that day. These

1224
01:12:10,200 --> 01:12:14,000
Speaker 1: are invisible barriers that people don't see. And so for me,

1225
01:12:14,240 --> 01:12:16,320
Speaker 1: sometimes I feel like I was saying lex sometimes I

1226
01:12:16,360 --> 01:12:19,200
Speaker 1: feel like my work isn't enough. But no, I think

1227
01:12:19,320 --> 01:12:22,080
Speaker 1: because I'm able to help some of these families just

1228
01:12:22,080 --> 01:12:24,800
Speaker 1: to even bridge the gap between the next time their

1229
01:12:24,920 --> 01:12:27,960
Speaker 1: EVT kicks in, right, And I've done that so many

1230
01:12:28,040 --> 01:12:31,040
Speaker 1: times where they're like Melissa, hey, you know, evt's not

1231
01:12:31,040 --> 01:12:33,760
Speaker 1: gonna kick until the tenth can you you know, can

1232
01:12:33,800 --> 01:12:35,720
Speaker 1: you bring us like, you know, even just like a

1233
01:12:35,760 --> 01:12:38,679
Speaker 1: bag of rice and beans? And I'm just like that's fine,

1234
01:12:39,200 --> 01:12:41,800
Speaker 1: and you know, like at least just that little bit

1235
01:12:42,040 --> 01:12:45,640
Speaker 1: to make sure that they're covered. But this shouldn't be

1236
01:12:45,680 --> 01:12:48,479
Speaker 1: the case, you know what I mean. It shouldn't be

1237
01:12:48,479 --> 01:12:50,519
Speaker 1: the case the same way that like we shouldn't have

1238
01:12:50,600 --> 01:12:52,600
Speaker 1: to work two jobs to be able to put a

1239
01:12:52,640 --> 01:12:55,519
Speaker 1: roop over our heads. We shouldn't have to like break

1240
01:12:55,520 --> 01:12:57,400
Speaker 1: our backs to be able to just feed our kids.

1241
01:12:57,680 --> 01:12:59,559
Speaker 1: But the fact that I feel like sometimes food is

1242
01:12:59,560 --> 01:13:02,639
Speaker 1: the last thing on people's minds. This is important. Word.

1243
01:13:03,240 --> 01:13:05,439
Speaker 1: What if you what about if you hear people say,

1244
01:13:05,520 --> 01:13:07,479
Speaker 1: you know, I got it, I made it, the one

1245
01:13:07,600 --> 01:13:10,400
Speaker 1: gave me anything. If you just if you just work

1246
01:13:10,520 --> 01:13:15,479
Speaker 1: so hard enough, you'll get all of the successes. These

1247
01:13:15,520 --> 01:13:18,800
Speaker 1: people just want a handout. If we feed them, they'll

1248
01:13:18,840 --> 01:13:20,960
Speaker 1: bring more friends and then you know, we'll have a

1249
01:13:20,960 --> 01:13:23,280
Speaker 1: big epidemic. What is your thought on that. I think

1250
01:13:23,280 --> 01:13:25,519
Speaker 1: it's kind of ridiculous that people say those things. And

1251
01:13:25,520 --> 01:13:28,840
Speaker 1: I feel like people don't realize that you give someone

1252
01:13:28,880 --> 01:13:31,000
Speaker 1: just the meal, or you give them like groceries for

1253
01:13:31,040 --> 01:13:35,360
Speaker 1: a few days, that's not Frankly, sometimes it's nothing. It's

1254
01:13:35,640 --> 01:13:38,880
Speaker 1: that you don't understand just the framework what it is

1255
01:13:38,880 --> 01:13:43,439
Speaker 1: for someone who's unhoused. That's doesn't this is not a

1256
01:13:43,479 --> 01:13:46,360
Speaker 1: free handout. It's it's just a way to keep someone alive.

1257
01:13:47,120 --> 01:13:53,479
Speaker 1: And you know, like for me, there's so many things

1258
01:13:53,520 --> 01:13:55,920
Speaker 1: to keep people healthy, even like the lack of sleep

1259
01:13:56,320 --> 01:13:59,200
Speaker 1: or whatever. To me, it's like just making sure that

1260
01:13:59,240 --> 01:14:03,639
Speaker 1: people it's to me, frankly, it's I see it as

1261
01:14:03,680 --> 01:14:07,200
Speaker 1: life or death. Where where are folks going to get

1262
01:14:07,240 --> 01:14:09,320
Speaker 1: the access for these things. They don't have the money

1263
01:14:09,360 --> 01:14:13,559
Speaker 1: for it. And just because you know that we're able

1264
01:14:13,600 --> 01:14:15,640
Speaker 1: to give people food doesn't mean that they're going to

1265
01:14:15,720 --> 01:14:18,439
Speaker 1: stay out there. Like I mean, there's there's no connection

1266
01:14:18,760 --> 01:14:25,720
Speaker 1: to uh giving someone a meal and you know, and

1267
01:14:25,800 --> 01:14:27,960
Speaker 1: wanting to stay to stay in a house because I don't.

1268
01:14:27,960 --> 01:14:30,599
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't frankly think that's like the worst

1269
01:14:31,560 --> 01:14:33,200
Speaker 1: Like I don't. I don't like that thinking at all.

1270
01:14:33,640 --> 01:14:36,080
Speaker 1: You mentioned, which is crew because I have used sometimes

1271
01:14:36,080 --> 01:14:38,960
Speaker 1: when you brought food when my ebt has to catch

1272
01:14:39,040 --> 01:14:41,479
Speaker 1: all cob over and for the six and people fail

1273
01:14:41,560 --> 01:14:44,840
Speaker 1: to realize that. You know, skid Row is wonderful, but

1274
01:14:45,000 --> 01:14:49,680
Speaker 1: Chinatown has uh it's like it has a food distribution now.

1275
01:14:49,880 --> 01:14:52,000
Speaker 1: Prior to that they did not. So a lot of

1276
01:14:52,000 --> 01:14:55,200
Speaker 1: times you have to stretch bad food because I've been

1277
01:14:55,360 --> 01:14:57,880
Speaker 1: And then that's another issue that people don't talk about

1278
01:14:57,880 --> 01:15:00,360
Speaker 1: when back when you get food poisoned out here, got

1279
01:15:00,400 --> 01:15:02,599
Speaker 1: food poison out here at least six or seven times

1280
01:15:02,640 --> 01:15:06,280
Speaker 1: because eating spoiled food. And that's another reason why I

1281
01:15:06,280 --> 01:15:09,840
Speaker 1: think it's so essential that we understand the food inequity

1282
01:15:10,240 --> 01:15:13,200
Speaker 1: and the viewpoint behind it. The world view behind it.

1283
01:15:13,680 --> 01:15:16,320
Speaker 1: I was talking to one of the administrators over in

1284
01:15:16,320 --> 01:15:21,160
Speaker 1: the park about how people have these fears about people

1285
01:15:21,240 --> 01:15:23,520
Speaker 1: that are in need and they are coming into your neighborhood,

1286
01:15:23,840 --> 01:15:26,719
Speaker 1: and that bothers me because it feels like you don't

1287
01:15:26,720 --> 01:15:28,559
Speaker 1: want to help them, You just don't want to see them,

1288
01:15:28,680 --> 01:15:31,840
Speaker 1: and you just want them maybe g magically disappear in

1289
01:15:31,840 --> 01:15:35,559
Speaker 1: the clouds. Any thoughts on that. Oh, yeah, my friend

1290
01:15:35,600 --> 01:15:41,000
Speaker 1: Steve Petromel, frankly, he was feeding the UN House in

1291
01:15:41,080 --> 01:15:46,080
Speaker 1: Santa Monica for a year at Reed Park, and I

1292
01:15:46,120 --> 01:15:48,680
Speaker 1: think it was because the objects of having the UN

1293
01:15:48,720 --> 01:15:52,040
Speaker 1: House in that area is that they pushed them out,

1294
01:15:52,240 --> 01:15:55,960
Speaker 1: and I don't frankly, everyone else knew that what he

1295
01:15:56,000 --> 01:16:00,679
Speaker 1: was doing was good work. And I think that people,

1296
01:16:00,760 --> 01:16:03,479
Speaker 1: a lot of our city leaders are more worried about,

1297
01:16:04,439 --> 01:16:08,000
Speaker 1: you know, kind of the just the visual of people

1298
01:16:08,040 --> 01:16:10,040
Speaker 1: being in the house in areas, and I think that's

1299
01:16:10,080 --> 01:16:13,400
Speaker 1: why sometimes they target us first, those of us would

1300
01:16:13,400 --> 01:16:17,000
Speaker 1: be because what they know, when people have food, people

1301
01:16:17,080 --> 01:16:20,760
Speaker 1: are gonna come. And I think sometimes they target us

1302
01:16:20,920 --> 01:16:23,960
Speaker 1: just because it's for that reason. And I think that's why.

1303
01:16:26,320 --> 01:16:28,719
Speaker 1: I think that's why it's it's kind of really important

1304
01:16:28,760 --> 01:16:32,280
Speaker 1: to sort of address that it's not I guess, so

1305
01:16:32,560 --> 01:16:36,519
Speaker 1: I get so angry because we're really just trying to

1306
01:16:36,560 --> 01:16:40,559
Speaker 1: make sure that someone isn't hungry. I don't understand how

1307
01:16:40,600 --> 01:16:43,840
Speaker 1: this is, you know what I mean? Like, and I

1308
01:16:43,840 --> 01:16:47,559
Speaker 1: think even just you know, understanding how people are having

1309
01:16:47,560 --> 01:16:49,719
Speaker 1: a hard time just even getting to a certain place.

1310
01:16:50,240 --> 01:16:53,040
Speaker 1: Think about someone on a wheelchair, think about someone who's elderly,

1311
01:16:53,360 --> 01:16:56,760
Speaker 1: think about someone who you know doesn't have like two

1312
01:16:56,760 --> 01:16:59,280
Speaker 1: bucks a hawk on a freaking bus. It's just get

1313
01:16:59,360 --> 01:17:02,840
Speaker 1: like food, How are they gonna get fed? Did that mean?

1314
01:17:03,479 --> 01:17:07,679
Speaker 1: And so like, just because we're feeding like down the block,

1315
01:17:07,720 --> 01:17:10,559
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that everyone gets to get that food. Like

1316
01:17:10,640 --> 01:17:13,920
Speaker 1: It's just doesn't make sense. So just because there's free

1317
01:17:13,960 --> 01:17:17,600
Speaker 1: food doesn't mean that people aren't want to stay unhoused.

1318
01:17:18,160 --> 01:17:23,320
Speaker 1: That is the most That is the most ridiculous way

1319
01:17:23,479 --> 01:17:28,960
Speaker 1: of viewing like feeding the homeless. What if let's here's

1320
01:17:29,080 --> 01:17:32,479
Speaker 1: I'm playing Gleavel's advocate. As you know, many our listeners

1321
01:17:32,520 --> 01:17:35,280
Speaker 1: know my stance on the fact, But what is what

1322
01:17:35,400 --> 01:17:38,400
Speaker 1: if I want to enjoy my Mimosa breakfast and I

1323
01:17:38,439 --> 01:17:41,160
Speaker 1: see on house people getting fed, or if I want

1324
01:17:41,200 --> 01:17:44,880
Speaker 1: to walk my dog, or I have children and I

1325
01:17:44,960 --> 01:17:48,040
Speaker 1: want don't want them to see suffering. What is your

1326
01:17:48,040 --> 01:17:52,120
Speaker 1: thoughts on this? I think people need to understand that

1327
01:17:52,439 --> 01:17:56,320
Speaker 1: just just seeing someone being fed or seeing the unhoused,

1328
01:17:56,800 --> 01:17:59,920
Speaker 1: that that peels in comparison to what's happening for that person.

1329
01:18:00,560 --> 01:18:02,599
Speaker 1: And I think that would be a good way for

1330
01:18:03,240 --> 01:18:07,760
Speaker 1: for or like kind of like a good way like

1331
01:18:07,800 --> 01:18:09,680
Speaker 1: a learning point for them. And I hope that it

1332
01:18:10,360 --> 01:18:14,639
Speaker 1: shouldn't city leaders shouldn't use that as a talking point

1333
01:18:15,280 --> 01:18:18,200
Speaker 1: that oh I have to I have to see unhouse

1334
01:18:18,240 --> 01:18:20,919
Speaker 1: people or being fed. I think it would be important

1335
01:18:20,920 --> 01:18:23,719
Speaker 1: for people to understand what that person is going through

1336
01:18:23,800 --> 01:18:25,400
Speaker 1: and to actually switch out, you know what I mean,

1337
01:18:25,600 --> 01:18:30,040
Speaker 1: Like it pales in comparisons because I have I've been

1338
01:18:30,120 --> 01:18:32,760
Speaker 1: in so many situations where we've had to feed young

1339
01:18:32,840 --> 01:18:37,679
Speaker 1: children who live in cars, who live intents. Think about

1340
01:18:37,720 --> 01:18:40,040
Speaker 1: being a parent, I'm having to figure out how to

1341
01:18:40,080 --> 01:18:42,760
Speaker 1: feed your ten year old kid that night, where you're

1342
01:18:42,760 --> 01:18:44,599
Speaker 1: gonna where are you gonna get that? We're gonna get

1343
01:18:44,600 --> 01:18:48,000
Speaker 1: that food. And so I think what people need to

1344
01:18:48,080 --> 01:18:55,280
Speaker 1: understand is it's not it's it's not it's it's beyond

1345
01:18:55,320 --> 01:18:59,000
Speaker 1: a crisis. It's really beyond a crisis because right now

1346
01:18:59,040 --> 01:19:02,080
Speaker 1: all we're seeing is I mean, we could we could

1347
01:19:02,080 --> 01:19:04,800
Speaker 1: we see tents or whatever. But there's so many other

1348
01:19:04,840 --> 01:19:08,559
Speaker 1: things I was selling less, there's so many invisible stories

1349
01:19:08,600 --> 01:19:11,040
Speaker 1: that we don't see. Even if you're housed, you're still

1350
01:19:11,040 --> 01:19:14,479
Speaker 1: food in sif're you're still hungry, Even if you have

1351
01:19:14,520 --> 01:19:17,680
Speaker 1: a move over your head, you have nothing in your fridge,

1352
01:19:17,920 --> 01:19:21,280
Speaker 1: you know, how are you gonna get fed? And sometimes

1353
01:19:21,280 --> 01:19:23,360
Speaker 1: people don't have access to those things. And so I

1354
01:19:23,400 --> 01:19:28,479
Speaker 1: think it's important for us to really have a larger

1355
01:19:28,520 --> 01:19:32,040
Speaker 1: conversation about food because we need it every day. Food

1356
01:19:32,120 --> 01:19:35,559
Speaker 1: touches every single part of our lives, and for me,

1357
01:19:36,400 --> 01:19:39,160
Speaker 1: it's amazing to be able to use that as a

1358
01:19:39,280 --> 01:19:47,080
Speaker 1: way to build trust in communities and build community. But

1359
01:19:47,160 --> 01:19:50,280
Speaker 1: I think what's important is to change like the language

1360
01:19:50,360 --> 01:19:53,519
Speaker 1: that we have around feeding them homeless, because it really

1361
01:19:53,720 --> 01:19:59,200
Speaker 1: doesn't kind of go beyond that and address other other

1362
01:19:59,280 --> 01:20:03,720
Speaker 1: levels of food andecurity to home. So I hope the

1363
01:20:03,880 --> 01:20:08,240
Speaker 1: question you did I kind of hijacked another interviewer, but

1364
01:20:08,560 --> 01:20:12,120
Speaker 1: I won't let him do it. Like I say, this

1365
01:20:12,160 --> 01:20:15,200
Speaker 1: is a very informative an education of the conversation that

1366
01:20:15,280 --> 01:20:18,200
Speaker 1: really must be had, even what you. I hope you've

1367
01:20:18,240 --> 01:20:21,320
Speaker 1: seen the links between the house and unhoused. For example,

1368
01:20:21,360 --> 01:20:23,640
Speaker 1: when you house anun house person, they're still going to

1369
01:20:23,640 --> 01:20:26,479
Speaker 1: have food and in security issues. And if people are

1370
01:20:26,520 --> 01:20:30,600
Speaker 1: dealing with rising rents, they're still in dealing with food insecurity.

1371
01:20:30,800 --> 01:20:33,680
Speaker 1: So this is the common link. Back the politicians that

1372
01:20:33,800 --> 01:20:36,680
Speaker 1: don't like to have this conversation, but I implore all

1373
01:20:36,760 --> 01:20:40,000
Speaker 1: of us to understand and have this conversation with them.

1374
01:20:40,040 --> 01:20:42,080
Speaker 1: You're going to listen to us, and you're going to

1375
01:20:42,120 --> 01:20:45,400
Speaker 1: talk about this because this matter to you as well

1376
01:20:45,439 --> 01:20:49,200
Speaker 1: as the unhoused. And when you are trying to evaluate

1377
01:20:49,240 --> 01:20:53,920
Speaker 1: if a candidate is electable because of their position, you

1378
01:20:53,960 --> 01:20:57,000
Speaker 1: need to have this come up in the conversation and

1379
01:20:57,320 --> 01:21:03,559
Speaker 1: to also see how the candidate also addresses, you know,

1380
01:21:03,640 --> 01:21:09,559
Speaker 1: issues around labor, issues around snap, benefits, unt all those

1381
01:21:09,560 --> 01:21:14,040
Speaker 1: center are fully connected. Because just because the connectors concentrate

1382
01:21:14,160 --> 01:21:16,800
Speaker 1: on a housing issue or any or all these things,

1383
01:21:17,640 --> 01:21:20,519
Speaker 1: to be able to keep someone house and to keep

1384
01:21:20,520 --> 01:21:24,400
Speaker 1: their family healthy, you have to also address you know,

1385
01:21:24,640 --> 01:21:27,160
Speaker 1: like stuff that's going on with like SNAP, stuff that's

1386
01:21:27,200 --> 01:21:29,120
Speaker 1: going on with labor, because we've got to make sure

1387
01:21:29,160 --> 01:21:32,240
Speaker 1: that that person stays in the job and also they

1388
01:21:32,240 --> 01:21:34,639
Speaker 1: stay healthy, so that there's also you know, a whole

1389
01:21:34,800 --> 01:21:36,880
Speaker 1: some other like health stuff too that you have to do.

1390
01:21:36,960 --> 01:21:39,479
Speaker 1: So I think it really is almost just like just

1391
01:21:40,560 --> 01:21:43,719
Speaker 1: all these different ages, all these different sort of sectors

1392
01:21:44,080 --> 01:21:47,439
Speaker 1: working together to make sure that you know what I mean,

1393
01:21:47,640 --> 01:21:51,400
Speaker 1: like acts, it's equity across the board, not just housing.

1394
01:21:51,960 --> 01:21:54,760
Speaker 1: But for me, I think because it's been so food focused,

1395
01:21:56,800 --> 01:22:01,680
Speaker 1: I don't know, I've been able to kind of I

1396
01:22:01,680 --> 01:22:03,760
Speaker 1: don't know, to do this work and people are like, oh,

1397
01:22:03,800 --> 01:22:05,720
Speaker 1: I gonna what are you gonna do? You're gonna like

1398
01:22:07,960 --> 01:22:10,040
Speaker 1: people like drug run for office whenever I don't have

1399
01:22:10,080 --> 01:22:13,400
Speaker 1: any answer. Fix it that way at all. That is

1400
01:22:13,439 --> 01:22:15,840
Speaker 1: sown out my bag. That is not my real house.

1401
01:22:17,040 --> 01:22:20,880
Speaker 1: We have many people a collage and are incredible policy

1402
01:22:20,920 --> 01:22:24,120
Speaker 1: but because I also I'm advocating with them, it's made

1403
01:22:24,200 --> 01:22:26,240
Speaker 1: me a better person and through this, so I think

1404
01:22:26,280 --> 01:22:29,880
Speaker 1: that's that's one thing too. So shout out to everyone

1405
01:22:29,920 --> 01:22:34,880
Speaker 1: out there doing that work. I've become better because of them.

1406
01:22:34,120 --> 01:22:37,799
Speaker 1: So well, there you have it. I want to close

1407
01:22:37,880 --> 01:22:42,080
Speaker 1: with In Chinatown there was a low income a grocery

1408
01:22:42,080 --> 01:22:45,880
Speaker 1: store facts with the work with the Business Improvement District.

1409
01:22:46,160 --> 01:22:50,640
Speaker 1: And in Tandom with uh Tom Gilmour, they decided to

1410
01:22:50,640 --> 01:22:54,160
Speaker 1: shut this down. Now, I wanted to tell you how

1411
01:22:54,240 --> 01:22:59,200
Speaker 1: this is personal to me. Is that grocery store accepted

1412
01:22:59,280 --> 01:23:03,480
Speaker 1: EBT and it was foreign house and house ives can't

1413
01:23:03,520 --> 01:23:06,400
Speaker 1: tell you how many times had I seen house members

1414
01:23:06,720 --> 01:23:09,479
Speaker 1: using EBT as snap for them to have fresh food

1415
01:23:09,520 --> 01:23:13,719
Speaker 1: to cook. Now the challenge becomes is where is any

1416
01:23:13,760 --> 01:23:18,200
Speaker 1: place in Chinatown that are ABT friendly? So I want

1417
01:23:18,200 --> 01:23:21,280
Speaker 1: you to ponder this because when you have these anti

1418
01:23:21,320 --> 01:23:24,720
Speaker 1: in house sentiment, you also are cutting your nose and

1419
01:23:24,760 --> 01:23:27,400
Speaker 1: spiting your own face as well. This is THEO Henderson

1420
01:23:27,400 --> 01:23:29,479
Speaker 1: with meeting on House and I thank you all for

1421
01:23:29,560 --> 01:23:34,360
Speaker 1: listening and may we again meet in the light of understanding.

1422
01:23:50,240 --> 01:23:54,080
Speaker 1: Any society that fails to harness the energy and creativity

1423
01:23:54,160 --> 01:23:56,960
Speaker 1: of its women is at a huge disadvantage in the

1424
01:23:57,000 --> 01:24:02,040
Speaker 1: modern world. This episode has shown adversity has presented itself

1425
01:24:02,240 --> 01:24:05,559
Speaker 1: to our guests in various different ways, and how they

1426
01:24:05,600 --> 01:24:08,480
Speaker 1: have met the challenge and are still meeting the challenge

1427
01:24:08,600 --> 01:24:13,519
Speaker 1: through creativity, resilience, and the community involvement. However they confronted

1428
01:24:13,520 --> 01:24:16,120
Speaker 1: their individual storms and their lives, they have found the

1429
01:24:16,160 --> 01:24:20,160
Speaker 1: strength to keep going. The women power of this nation

1430
01:24:20,280 --> 01:24:23,320
Speaker 1: can be the power which make us hold and heals

1431
01:24:23,320 --> 01:24:26,879
Speaker 1: the rotten community now so shattered by war and poverty

1432
01:24:26,880 --> 01:24:31,720
Speaker 1: and racism. Correcta Scott's King. This is Steo Henderson from

1433
01:24:31,720 --> 01:24:35,240
Speaker 1: Weedy n House. Thank you for listening, and may we

1434
01:24:35,320 --> 01:24:41,800
Speaker 1: all again meet in the light of understanding.