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Life on the Streets
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After spending a week on skid row and listening to the city authorities promise to make a difference, the Times columnist wonders when the homeless will see results.
PHOTOS: Will Deeds Follow the Words?
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 One man injects himself while another sleeps in a wheelchair near 7th Street and San Julian Place.
(Francine Orr / LAT) |
PART ONE
STEVE LOPEZ / POINTS WESTThe call comes in at 11:18 in the morning. Possible overdose on skid row, just half a block from one of the busiest firehouses in the United States.
A spirited Art Goldberg was up in his shabby Echo Park office Monday afternoon, above the Vietnamese bakery with the moon cakes he loves, counting votes for the antiwar resolution he's been touting since August.
PART THREE
STEVE LOPEZ / POINTS WESTThere is no such thing as skid row disease. But if there were, Lonnie Whitaker, 49, would have it bad. He hobbles into the office of Dr. Dennis Bleakley, lowers himself onto a chair and goes through the long list of what ails him.
PART FOUR
STEVE LOPEZ / POINTS WESTHe's in a wheelchair, ducking behind a trash can. I step forward to see if he's OK and inadvertently scare him.
STEVE LOPEZ / POINTS WEST
Nathaniel was in a panic over what to wear.
STEVE LOPEZ / POINTS WEST
I could tell something was bothering Casey Horan and Shannon Murray, and it wasn't hard to guess what. They're in the business of patience, and I've got very little of it.
In response to queries from readers about how help improve things on skid row, here is a partial list of established agencies:
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