L.A.’s Homeless Ranks Seen Growing; Work Begins on New Mission

Economic problems and harsh weather elsewhere are driving more and more homeless people to Southern California, the director of the Los Angeles Mission said Thursday as he helped break ground for a $10-million facility in the heart of Skid Row.

The three-story mission at 5th and Wall streets, former site of a dilapidated hotel, will be built using donations, said the Rev. Mark Holsinger, mission director.

Because of the icy cold and the loss of jobs in many other parts of the nation, Holsinger said, there has been a 20% increase in the number of people seeking food and shelter at the mission’s current facility at 443 S. Los Angeles St.

“We have paid so much attention to the homeless here,” he said, “that we have sort of become the homeless capital of the world. People are coming out here to get help. That’s my feeling.”

The new facility, expected to be completed in a little more than a year, will increase the mission’s capacity from 78 beds to 296--of which 32 will be for women in a separate section.

There is little shelter now available for women on Skid Row, Holsinger pointed out. He said the Los Angeles Mission formerly had no women asking for help, “but now we have 25 to 30 a night. Some of them have children.”

He noted that the streets are becoming so violent that even many homeless men are frightened of being outside. “It’s becoming sort of a crisis situation,” he declared.

Although the Los Angeles Mission has operated on Skid Row since 1949, Holsinger said, it was not until the last year that “the need for food and shelter has been so great that we have had to turn people away.”

In December, 1985, he said, the mission served 11,566 meals. This past December, it served 14,968.

The new Los Angeles Mission will include a dining hall capable of serving 2,000 meals a day--500 more than any Los Angeles Skid Row mission can now serve. The mission also will begin providing elementary medical, dental and chiropractic care and counseling by professionals volunteering their time two or three days a week.

Holsinger said the roof area will have enclosed gardens and a covered porch for meditation and prayer. He said there will also be three classrooms, a racquetball court, a basketball court, television lounges and a running track on the roof.

The mission has a six-month rehabilitation program aimed at helping people regain self-esteem and job skills so they can re-enter society.