in Poverty

Los Angeles Homeless Man Shares the Harsh Reality of Skid Row

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“Skid Row hurt me in ways I can’t ever explain. It made me do things and made see things I wish I would have never seen.” ~ Luke

Luke story of living homeless on Los Angeles’s Skid Row is powerful and heartbreaking. No one should have to live like this. No one should have to fight just to survive for food and shelter and live in constant in fear!

Luke came to LA with his wife. Her family invited them to come to live with them, so they jumped on a Greyhound bus. They started calling, and their family never answered. When they arrived in Los Angeles the couple was forced to go to Skid Row where they are now stuck!

Skid Row was created by intentional urban design. The decision was made to place most all of the city’s homeless services in that one area. The theory was that by having all of the resources in one location that it would contain Los Angeles’s homeless crisis.

“Skid Row is by the bus station. It’s where all the shelters are. It’s where all the food is. It’s where all the resources are located. But Skid Row is a very nasty place” Luke shares in this interview. He goes on to say “[Skid Row] will make it so you are just constantly worried about what you need to survive because everything is being taken from you.”

Luke talks about how gangs tax homeless people in Skid Row for living on the sidewalk or in a certain area. If you don’t pay, they beat you up or burn down your tent with all of your belongings in it.

For those of you that are going to judge Luke for being on drugs, you need to understand that people use drugs to escape pain. It’s nearly impossible to stay sober while homeless and if you’re stuck in a place like Skid Row, drugs become a way to cope with life. Luke’s wife had to resort to prostitution and ended up pregnant. Near the end of her pregnancy, she started having seizures and was diagnosed with brain cancer. Luke was beaten 13 times since living homeless on Skid Row.

I pray Luke’s story messes you up like it did me. We cannot continue to look the other way and ignore the growing homeless crisis in America. Please watch and share this video with everyone you know and then take real tangible action to fight homelessness in your community. 

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Since its launch in November 2008, Invisible People has leveraged the power of video and the massive reach of social media to share the compelling, gritty, and unfiltered stories of homeless people from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. The vlog (video blog) gets up close and personal with veterans, mothers, children, layoff victims and others who have been forced onto the streets by a variety of circumstances. Each week, they’re on InvisiblePeople.tv, and high traffic sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, proving to a global audience that while they may often be ignored, they are far from invisible.

Invisible People goes beyond the rhetoric, statistics, political debates, and limitations of social services to examine poverty in America via a medium that audiences of all ages can understand, and can’t ignore. The vlog puts into context one of our nation’s most troubling and prevalent issues through personal stories captured by the lens of Mark Horvath – its founder – and brings into focus the pain, hardship and hopelessness that millions face each day. One story at a time, videos posted on InvisiblePeople.tv shatter the stereotypes of America’s homeless, force shifts in perception and deliver a call to action that is being answered by national brands, nonprofit organizations and everyday citizens now committed to opening their eyes and their hearts to those too often forgotten.

Invisible People is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the way we think about people experiencing homelessness.

#homeless #losangeles #skidrow

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Comments

  4. What gets people in this predicament…bad luck, poor choices, fate. It is a way of life that doesn't seem reversible. I have done volunteer work feeding the homeless for over ten years, and the faces are the same each day. There must be no one they know to give them hope, or a place to stay, until they can afford to get a job, and have a place for their possesions. We can't imagine what it's like. My motto has always been… There is always a way. My husband and I started out having not high paying jobs,. We always saved when we could, so our lives worked out, but under different circumstances, and choices, this can happen to anyone

  6. It's so much more complicated than bad luck. Guys like this make a very conscious decision to run away from the pressure of the rat race. They make the choice of the street over work, responsibility and stress. You can clean him up, feed him and shelter him and he will find some reason to escape back to this. We can continue to create safe havens and that will only grow the number of cases like this. Self respecting people will chose safety and stability and will make the deal of working for that when given a fair shot. Everybody else.. and I am terribly sorry to say this.. confirms Darwin's theories.

  9. He may be using drugs but even the heroin can't hide the pain in this man's eyes. He is trapped in his own personal hell. Prayers for you, sir. I hope God shines light into your life.

  11. Looks like he's settled for skid row. Don't be a bleeding heart liberal and feel sorry for this guy. My younger brother ended up on skid row and he'd tell you the same thing. It's a place where the people have given up. Drugs, meth particularly (and this guy looks like a meth head), are more important to them than anything else. My brother has freed himself from skid row and is now working, taking better care of himself, and starting to be a real person again, with relationships. It can be done. Don't settle for skid row. Resolve to get out of it.

  12. If i could find this man, i would personally give him a job and help this man out. He seems like such a kind soul. He has a story and he is struggling. Lets forget about Democrats, Republicans, or any Party affiliations. If we would ALL just "Do Right" in life and help each other out and ALL come together, this world would be a better place. I know its not that answer for EVERYONE but…

    The only reason you should EVER look down on someone, is if you are reaching down to give them a hand to get up. v

  15. Why is it that all of the country's homeless are congregating in Los Angeles? Must be the weather and the fact that Los Angles actually have SOME homeless support programs.

  18. Dude, this vid is crude, all of it, and it make me feel bad, all of it, specially the point where he said he was even jumped by cubans…cause Im Cuban… thats a shitty thing… Its truth that the world aint a very nice place to be at all for anyone…

  19. Let's make a GoFundMe page for him give him a contract if he stays away from negative energy and finds a home he likes we'll all pitch in until he gets back to a place he could call home & make a better life for himself

  32. He really didn't go into detail about how he became homeless..but I feel for him. He needs to find a way to make decent money on the street and start saving up somewhere. store his cash away somewhere.

  42. And they claim to throw million at the problem..
    And nothing changes.
    Where does it all go?
    Administration's pockets?
    Homelessness has become a business.
    Like the Vietnam war.
    Never meant to win
    Just sustain
    Very sad

  48. Let this guy write a book, i'm sure it will tell a lot more than whats available in the store. He's a good soul in a bad situation.

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