It isn’t possible to live in any area in Los Angeles without seeing those who are homeless. Each day, we see them push their belongings in shopping carts, they’re on buses and the metro rail, sitting at bus stops trying to sleep while sitting up.
Most people will commiserate with others about “how bad it’s become,” but won’t get involved. After all, most think of “the homeless” as a massive cluster rather than seeing them as individuals with diverse life experiences and situations that have pushed them into their circumstances.
In addition, there are thousands of homeless who are undetected. They live in their cars and hold down jobs.
Ken Craft, founder, and CEO of Hope the Mission — formerly known as Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission, and Rowan Vansleve, the organization’s president and CFO, have made it their life’s work to run a nonprofit that helps those who are “unhoused” with emergency food and homeless support services.
Recently, they took their work a step further — the two men decided they would experience what it’s like for those who live in a car and report to work each day.
“When you’re on the street, your main concern is protection, food and sleep, to be able to have just your very basic needs. This time, we really wanted to put a spotlight on the many people that live in vehicles in Los Angeles,” said Craft.
The number of homeless in LA County is estimated to be over 69,000 — it’s estimated that at least 16,000 people live in their vehicles and many of them hold down jobs.
Co-workers are usually unaware that they are “unhoused.” Both Craft and Vansleve quickly learned just how tough it is to keep up appearances.
“Living in a car is obviously much better than on the sidewalk, but the amount of work it takes just to maintain and being able to maintain your daily routine, job in inclement weather. The storms hitting really highlighted that and made our journey just that much harder and incredibly exhausting,” said Vansleve.
They used a late-model Toyota Corolla as their home for four nights.
Where to Park?
During their first night, they found it nearly impossible to find a place in the valley where they could park the car and sleep.
“The first night, we drove throughout the valley for over an hour just trying to find a place to park because ‘No Parking’ signs are everywhere between 10 p.m. — 5 a.m. There were nights where we thought we had a good place, but then security guards came and a neighborhood watch group said, ‘no, you can’t be here.’ I didn’t want to argue with them, so we just left,” Craft described.
It started raining which made it even harder.
“The big struggle was trying to get comfortable in the vehicle, especially as the rain kept coming down. We couldn’t get out and move around. As soon as you get out and you get wet. You’re getting back into what’s your bed. You’re gonna get [the] inside wet. And it was honestly just an exhausting night,” said Vansleve.
Being told to “move along,” over and over doesn’t allow for any kind of real rest and can constantly traumatize a person knowing that at any moment they may have someone banging on their car or shining bright lights on them telling them to leave. The truth is, no one really wants them around their neighborhood.
“We got chased out at 2 a.m. from a spot where we thought we were safe. We ended up driving around until we saw a street that had a bunch of other campers and cars. And thought, well, I guess this is where we need to be. I didn’t necessarily want to be there because it was right across the street from residential homes, and those residential homes basically put floodlights that faced out towards the streets as a deterrent. But that’s where we stayed — so we kind of blended in with others,” said Vansleve.
Getting Ready for Work
From the moment they woke, they had to quickly move to find a place to clean up and change so they could get to work on time.
On Monday, the start of the work week, Craft was unsuccessful in finding a homeless center that was open, so he found himself trying to wash his hair and taking a “birdbath” in the sink of a Mcdonald’s that allowed him to use the restroom if he bought a coffee. Not all of the restaurant locations for the chain will allow this, so he was relatively fortunate. For Vansleve, he was able to use a membership at a gym to shower.
“The McDonalds didn’t have a mirror and it wasn’t until I got to work that I saw how my hair really looked — it was ridiculous. I was late and got written up,” said Craft. He would later find that his own organization Hope of the Valley, located in Van Nuys on Victory and Tyrone, was the only help center that was open early enough for people to use before work.
Comparing the experience he and Vansleve had last year — he viewed it as completely impossible for someone to hold a job who is living on the street. People often yell at those who are homeless to “get a job.”
“While living on the street, there’s no way I could have held down a job. Just no way because I’m trying to protect what small possessions I have. I can’t get cleaned up. I can’t get around,” said Craft.
“Living in a car, it’s manageable, barely, but you know each morning it’s like, okay, where do I go to go to the bathroom? I really need a cup of coffee. And where do I shower? How do I clean myself? I don’t want my co-workers to know I’m homeless so I have to park the vehicle a few blocks away and walk in,” Craft explained.
“And even then, when we did that, one day, a local business owner put a sign on the door and on the car windows saying you know, we know you’re homeless, we don’t want the vehicle parked here. It’s impacting our business.
“It’s frustrating because you do sense this discrimination even when you drive in somewhere and you’re in an old beat up car and in the backseat is filled with blankets and sleeping bags and pillows and it’s obvious someone’s living in there. And so you kind of get the second look of people glancing at you like there’s something wrong with you and you can see how it could truly impact someone’s self-esteem and their self worth and their identity.”
Craft said that’s what scares him.
“When people lose confidence that they can make it, they give up, and when hopelessness sets in and despair, people become overwhelmed, and they give up and that’s when it gets bad and so we need to be able to give hope, and also solutions.
“I think that my biggest takeaway is what do we do about this? We live in a city that is incredibly expensive where it can cost $2,200 for a one-bedroom apartment. For a low-wage earner or someone who’s fleeing domestic violence or a bad relationship and they’re trying to start over and maybe they’ve been couch surfing, staying in people’s houses but they’ve overstayed their welcome. They’re living in their car and trying to get [or keep] a job.”
Craft and Vansleve soon found that living in your car takes constant planning and work.
“You just can’t fit everything in the car, so you get caught in this constant reorganization cycle,” said Vansleve.
They pulled into an underground parking lot at the Granada Hills Target store to repack their belongings.
“I’m pulling everything out of my car and I look over on the other side of the parking structure and I see someone else who is living in their car doing the same thing. Every time you lay down, sleep, when you’re finished, you have to pull everything out and reorganize it because there just isn’t enough room. In order to fold up your blankets you need to reorganize your clothes,” said Vansleve. At the same time, they’re trying to keep presentable work clothes.
Vansleve said he’s especially concerned for the women and families who are living in their cars.
“My heart just breaks for women who are in their cars, who are so vulnerable to violence and harassment to families who are struggling in their cars.
“We’re actually opening 724 beds for families in Woodland Hills, Lancaster [and] in MacArthur Park as part of launching free hotels to bring people, families inside. No family should be in a car,” he said. “I couldn’t imagine trying to raise my daughter, trying to love and care for my daughter and my son in a car. It’s just not right, we can do better as a people. Our public policy can be stronger than allowing this to ever happen,” said Vansleve.
“When you are living in a car, anything can go wrong,” said Craft. “It could just blow up because you have no margins in your life. So for me, I just develop a deep appreciation for those who have climbed their way back up and out of such extreme adversity. I know a nurse who had to live in her car. I know someone else who was an Uber driver who lived in the back of their car. I hear these accounts all the time. And so, [I have] just a deep appreciation and respect for those individuals. I think for me, it was another eye-opener of how difficult it is to survive when you don’t have a house.”
“We know what we experienced is nothing like what people who have no options experience every day. A car is not a home,” said Craft.
For all the stories that have been written about the un-housed community, I was especially touched by the experience of these two human beings who took it upon themselves to truly understand what their clients are experiencing. Thank you – Ken Croft CEO & Founder and Rowan Vanslev CFO of Hope the Mission – Great journalism.
I wish more people would open their hearts and minds. Homelessness is a crime against humanity. Put yourself in their shoes as these two humanitarians have.