People of the Streets Gordon Hight

By Gordon Hight “Can you help me? Please?”

His tender and sincere “please” still rings in my head weeks later. Out for an afternoon photowalk, I’d angled down the hill from my West Hollywood apartment building and turned south along the boulevard. As I made the corner, I saw him, a man in a light grey sweatsuit lying against the concrete base of the Trader Joe’s. He sat in bright sunlight between pockets of shade offered up by a nearby palm trees. Gently, he held up a white, styrofoam cup and asked me those humble questions in his raspy, exasperated voice.

In the moment, I’m ashamed to say I buckled. I struggled to make eye contact. I didn’t slow my pace. I gave him nothing except for the lie that I had nothing to give. I was unnerved, not because I felt threatened, but because of deep uncertainty. I was torn between wanting to help and wanting to keep a safe distance. Risky encounters with strangers do happen, but this was not one of them. I had it in my head, however irrational and selfish, that if I spoke kindly or gave him something, anything, that he’d only want more.

My mistake was one of ignorance. I allowed the voice of baseless apprehension to dictate my decisions to lie and walk on past. It’s not that I see myself as a savior; I’m certainly not. But I do believe in loving others as ourselves and it pains me that for no reason at all, I treated him not like the human he is, but like a stray animal. He deserved better.

The key to doing better is education. So, in the weeks since, I’ve made efforts to shed my ignorance and get educated about homelessness. I’ve spoken with people in the city government. I’ve spoken with people who live here. And I’ve spent time reading material provided by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, LAHSA. I’ve learned that there are many myths about homelessness which contribute to misunderstandings like mine. Many of those misconceptions deal with its root causes.

Homelessness has many contributing factors, and while far from an exhaustive list, it can arise from difficulty transitioning out of foster

People of the Streets care, medical facilities, the criminal justice system, and military service. Some suffer from drug or alcohol addiction, but they are a minority (29% of the 36,300 homeless population in Los Angeles). Mental illness can factor in too. The major factor, however, is economic: housing affordability. As is the case

in many places across the country, LA has seen a growing divergence between wage and rent levels. The United Way recently reported that a typical citizen must earn more than forty-seven dollars an hour to afford median rent in the city. Facts like these necessitate a larger conversation about how and for whom the economy produces its good and services, but an immediate takeaway is that homelessness can happen to anyone.

There is much more to the issue of homelessness than can be given adequate treatment here. It’s a complex problem that requires complex solutions. Further, and one of the things that has impressed me most on this now two-month tour of America, is just how big this country is and how many different lifestyles it supports. That means economic factors at play in one location may be altogether different one town, one county, or one timezone away. America itself is a land of complexity, but that complexity doesn’t have to prevent us from tackling our problems. We just have to make our best efforts to understand those problems first. Does that make it your job to solve problems like homelessness in your communities? That’s not for me to say. But if you’re looking for a way to help, getting educated is the best first step and the best way to do that is to reach out to and engage with the officials and experts near you.

I saw the man in the light grey sweatsuit again yesterday. He was seated near a parking lot a few blocks from where I’d encountered him last. This time he asked me for fifty cents. I struggled to think of something fifty cents could buy. The bodega two doors down from where the man sat sells bottled water for three dollars. I know because I stopped in there and got him one. I can’t say I’ve overcome my trepidation, but I also can’t imagine a life without a companion to talk to, where my pillow is made of concrete, and I lack the ability to quench my own thirst. We’re here to love others as ourselves. I hope I did better this time.

For more information about the work being done to solve homelessness in Los Angeles, please visit https://www.lahsa.org/.

Gordon Hight is an America-based photographer and writer. His work can be found @americain2020 and @flycaster1 on Instagram.