Homeless Battle to Prevent Closure of L.A. Shantytown

About 50 homeless people who founded a shantytown in a Los Angeles Skid Row playground are fighting to prevent county health officials from closing it down because of unsanitary conditions, a spokesman for the homeless said Thursday.

“We’re not ignorant of these conditions,” shantytown spokesman Ted Hayes said, acknowledging the stench of human excrement in the air. “But we are homeless people who are trying to do something for ourselves.”

Hayes said the residents of “Justiceville,” as the shantytown in the 500 block of South Gladys Avenue has been dubbed, have asked local businessmen for portable toilets. But their pleas for help have been to no avail.

A contingent from the shantytown will visit Los Angeles city and county officials to try to reach an agreement that would prevent the shantytown’s closure, Hayes said.