Head of CA homeless services organization says ‘I can’t afford to live’ here anymore in L.A Times column

Posted 25 days ago

From WWW.FOXNEWS.COM

The head of a homeless services organization in Los Angeles published an opinion column in the L. A. Times this weekend complaining about not being able to afford living in the city anymore.

Author Nathan Sheets declared in the piece that he and his family received an eviction notice and are having to move back to Indiana. His column criticized the California government for doing little to curb homelessness, slamming it for not even giving options to social workers like himself to live there and help the homeless population.

The executive director homeless services nonprofit, The Center In Hollywood, began his column, writing, "In August, my family’s Los Angeles landlord served us with a 60-day notice to vacate… This is the second time in three and a half years we’ve been served with this kind of notice."

He added, "because of the double whammy of the housing affordability crisis in Los Angeles and the lack of housing security, my family isn’t looking for another place here — we’re leaving for my home state of Indiana, and I’ll soon have to leave my job."

Sheets also acknowledged, "The irony of all this is that for more than 10 years my job has been to help prevent homelessness for vulnerable Angelenos."

He continued, explaining how he moved to L. A. in 2011 and started a career in social work that blossomed from volunteer work "downtown for groups that provided meals and other services to the city’s unhoused population."

Sheets mentioned how he started working at the Center in Hollywood, noting, "I was drawn to the Center because, along with its work doing outreach and helping those in need find permanent housing, its central focus was on creating safe space and building relationships with unhoused people."

However, the author noted drawbacks to the job, that have now affected him ten years later. He stated, "Though meaningful and important, work in homeless services is hard, the pay is low and the lack of housing security for those who do it has led to many leaving California to avoid the risk of becoming unhoused themselves."... (Read more)












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