Background to this project

As an advocate for the homeless in L.A., I have long wanted to undertake this challenge: start at Skid Row - the poorest neighborhood of L.A. County, on whose four square miles some 2,500 homeless men, women and children live without shelter (according to the most recent Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, 2022) - and walk from there to Santa Monica, one of the county's most affluent neighborhoods.

In the course of this rags-to-riches expedition, five miles short of a marathon, I confront some of the grueling aspects of the city and its topography that unsheltered Angelenos experience daily. The brutal reality is that, every day in L.A. County, an average of five unsheltered Angelenos do not survive the streets I take on by choice in this project (source for this death rate: New York Times, June 2023).

I made my film (17 minutes) entirely from the handheld footage I shot with my iPhone as I went along. It doesn't get more real and unfiltered than that. So come see what it's like to walk from morning through sundown across a city whose supposed angels don't typically tread here, and imagine with me how this same journey might go for those who don't have my advantages or simply any choice.

Homeless non-profits in Los Angeles

If you enjoyed the video, please consider donating to any of the non-profits working with the homeless in Los Angeles. A selection is below, with links.

• Los Angeles Mission: losangelesmission.org
• The Midnight Mission: midnightmission.org
• Los Angeles Poverty Department: lapovertydept.org
• PATH: epath.org
• SPY (Safe Place for Youth): safeplaceforyouth.org
• Downtown Women's Center, Los Angeles: downtownwomenscenter.org
• The Center In Hollywood: thecenterinhollywood.org
• The People Concern: thepeopleconcern.org