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By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
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[See Vela, page 2]
Nora Vela (center), Fernando Escobedo (left), and Vela’s son, Augustin Hernandez (right) are the heart of the Helping the Homeless in Need--San Pedro. Photo by Phillip Cooke.
Connecting the Dots of Homelessness Shari Weaver, program director for the Harbor Interfaith Services, approaches the job of allocating resources for the homeless like a field general. Her giant map set on a three-legged stand in her office highlights areas where homeless encampments have been found and have been assigned a case manager as well as other resources needed. “As you can see, I do a lot of strategic mapping,” Weaver said. “When we go out, we don’t just go as one individual. We take all of our community partners—and not just the ones that are funded with
us. This is a collaborative effort.” That collaborative effort includes the Veteran’s Affairs and the Department of Mental Health. Weaver noted that anywhere from six to 12 service providers could make up an entire team doing street outreach. “We know that it’s not going to be one conversation and that this symbiotic relationship is going to take hold and we’ll walk hand-in-hand as we get them into permanent housing,” Weaver said. “Some of them need more intensive case management and more engagement.”
[See Connecting, page 4]
July 23 - August 5, 2015
transportation. It has a DVD player with a surround sound system, a table and space for a queen-size bed. On weekdays, Vela is an artist, crafter and entrepreneur. She creates original items, from handmade dolls to mounted assemblage works, which she sells at her booth at Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles. Weekends and any other spare moments she has are devoted to procuring food, clothing and other supplies through donations or otherwise, to be distributed to people in need. Vela and her crew, her boyfriend Escobedo and Vela’s 15-year-old son, Augustin, generally visit three to four homeless encampment sites each night, spending enough time at each location to catch up with the people living there with whom they’ve formed friendships. Vela said they began with 12 tacos from Del Taco, which they bought after a homeless person asked them for food. Seeing a need,
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very weekend and occasionally a day or two during the week, Nora Vela and her boyfriend Fernando Escobedo load up an old 1973 Volkswagen van with survival supplies, including hot, homemade meals, socks and hygiene kits. “Rolling Thunder,” as Vela metaphorically calls her van, is a welcome sight for sore eyes to people who are struggling with homelessness and living in makeshift encampments. Vela found Rolling Thunder on Craigslist four years ago. Barely operable, the 40-year-old vehicle was missing a windshield, the sliding side door was rusted shut, and when driven, it—in Vela’s words “farted” black smoke every few miles. But it had a few things going for it. “The interior was mostly immaculate considering it was used as a storage space for junk,” Vela said. “But it was a piece of shit on wheels.” She bought the bus for $1,500, but Vela estimates she poured about $7,000 into it for repairs and renovations, and a whole lot of hours of love and sweat. Now, it’s a reliable source of
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