Homelessness Is Not Inevitable

While It Now Seems Like a Social Norm, There Are Actions We Can Take to Keep People off the Streets

Ten years ago, Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez attended what he refers to as a “dog and pony show” on Los Angeles’ Skid Row. Its topic: the plan to end homelessness. “And yet,” Lopez told a standing-room-only crowd at a “Thinking L.A.” event co-presented by UCLA and Zócalo at the Plaza on Olvera Street, “homelessness is still going on.”

Lopez moderated a panel on why, despite years of discussion, people continue to live on the streets—and what can actually be done to change it. He was joined by L.A. …

Don’t Give the Homeless Your Sympathy

What They Really Need Is Access to Affordable Housing and Jobs

It doesn’t take more than a stroll down a city street to see that America has a homelessness problem. The guy tucked into in a stained blanket on the bench, …

Who Are the Homeless People in My Library?

A Fresno Librarian Made a Documentary to Get More Than a Glimpse at the Lives of Patrons She Serves Every Day

Several years ago, when I first began working as a librarian at the Central Library in downtown Fresno, I escorted a daily customer named James toward the door at closing …