Single Room Occupancy is not what I had imagined. Our first stop at SRO was greeted with a dark ambiance. We were met with polite smiles, but the wrinkles caused by hardships of age and untold stories did not go unnoticed. As Sara had stated, this is a place for second chances, the first stepping stone to a more permanent solution. The rooms were small, fitting only a twin sized bed and a sink. The bathrooms and showers were communal. It astonished me hearing that there are residents who stay in the SRO for more than a year. Another take away from this trip was learning how some residents who have a more secure housing plan still make their way to hang out with their community of people on the street. It is hard to relate and understand the struggles of people who have faced homelessness. For that reason, it made me realize that it is hard to mentally adapt to new environments and is a struggle transitioning from homelessness to a more secure housing for social reasons. There are considerations I would have never thought to be a factor in facing homelessness.
Second stop: Bruce Carron
Bruce Carron left a huge impact on me. The words that resonated with me were, “It only takes one chance to change a life.” His gratefulness towards the reaching hand of help struck me solemnly because there are not a lot of second chances given, especially to homeless people and more so to homeless elders. It only takes one person to change a life. Just one chance is all that is needed to have a lasting impact on one’s situation. The waiting list for subsidized housing is 3 years long. In that time, so many lives can be altered. There are so many people such as Bruce who are waiting to have good news to begin their new life. After listening to Bruce, it made me realize how much our system needs to change in order to provide more people with that one chance and opportunity to have a better life.
Third trip: North Park Senior Apartments
Met a man named Terry. Terry had prepared conversation starters of his artistic hobby, mold sculpture. But Terry’s story was more than a retired art teacher. He had plans to travel to India alone, has plant collections, loves African art, has a portrait of himself from when he was 30, and he isn’t supposed to be alive. Or that's what the doctors told him 40 years ago. Terry is a senior living with AIDS. He didn’t think he would be alive by the time he was 30. He informed us about the AIDS epidemic in the 80s, the stigma of AIDS fading thanks to activist groups such as ACT UP and people around him dropping like flies due to pharmaceutical poison of AZT. He had lived through what I read in books. I admire him for living through one of the life altering diseases and still having a smile on his face. You never really know what life story one can tell you until you talk to them. Terry has taught me to go with what I feel is right, what my gut feeling tells me. If it wasn’t for his gut feeling, he would have been one of the victims of AZT and he may have not made the impact he has on me today. I am so grateful I was able to meet Terry and listen to his story.
My thoughts:
My parents have a prejudice against the homelessness. Every time we pass by skid row, on the way to the grocery store, when we visit our grandparents, they always have a disdainful look on their faces. When I ask what their opinions are, they mutter, “They are lazy and they should just find a job instead of loitering on the street.” Without really knowing the tales these people have, my parents have become so desensitized to the homelessness epidemic in LA. The people just look like numbers to them. I have tried to persuade them of empathy, but they didn’t want to hear it. And gradually, I began to adopt their mindset. I am thankful for the opportunity to take this class. I feel like I would have begun to become stuck in my parents’ mindset. Listening to Bruce and Terry made me realize that sometimes life happens the way it does and it doesn’t matter who it happens to. All it takes is a little bit of support and a chance for housing to be healthy, happy, and live.