Los Angeles Mission's Blog

This article from Hitting Home: New faces join ranks of the homeless by Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY could just as easily be written for downtown Los Angeles as it was for Sandra Wright of Gary Indiana.

It used to be that those we serve came into the Mission for meals, beds and other services. Today we are seeing e-mail requests and a steady stream of those living in motels or cars that need help with food and clothing.

While we are not experts on real estate law, we do wonder why lenders are so quick to evict rent paying tenants in a rush to flood the market with even more vacant homes.  Homes that are then open for Southern California rave parties or with unattended swimming pools breeding mosquitoes with West Nile virus!

Here is the summary of Sandra’s story.

Sandra Wright, 37, and her three children and three grandchildren have lived in a rental home for about a year in Gary, Indiana.  The home has been foreclosed on, and she has until Friday to move out.

Wright, a housekeeper at a hotel, was worried that she’d wind up in a homeless shelter. But she’s hopeful of finding another rental in time because the lender on the home is offering her $1,000 if she leaves the house by Friday.

“I was worried I’ll wind up in a shelter,” Wright says.  “They could come and put everything out on the streets.  I’ve been praying a lot. All you can do is pray.”

--Herb Smith, President