On January 29, 2004 the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness hosted a gala dinner to raise money and awareness about the poor living conditions of thousands of disenfranchised people in our city. This already admirable event became even more special for Rhinos in attendance when the company became the proud recipient of a Corporate "Courage Award" for its longstanding involvement with the Coalition. Accepting on behalf of Rhino/WSM was company President Scott Pascucci, with Rhino A&R consultant/community activist/all-around-inspirational-guy Gary Stewart taking the reins from emcee comedienne Paula Poundstone for a moment to do the presenting honors.
While the event was a festive and entertaining affair, it brought home the somber reality of homelessness on very personal level: preparations for the banquet were in fact made by formerly homeless individuals, many veterans, who had found new opportunities through the Coalition's rehabilitation and retraining programs. In fact, it is estimated that a quarter of a million men, women and children will become homeless this year in L.A. County alone; according to the Coalition, there are 50,000-85,000 homeless people on the streets of Los Angeles on any given night, and approximately 10,000 of them are children or teenagers. According to LACEHH literature, a tally of the nightly population of homeless in Los Angeles would reveal the equivalent of the 17th largest municipality in the country. Multiply a similar number by the total of major metropolitan areas in the United States, and it's clearly a problem of incomprehensible proportions in one of the wealthiest nations on Earth.
To that end, the LACEHH is enacting the "Bring L.A. Home" program in an effort to unite community leaders "to prevent and end homelessness in Los Angeles County by creating and implementing a comprehensive, innovative and realistic ten-year strategic plan," making it a priority to effect legislative change and to secure funding for vital services. The Coalition cites "dumping" of residents of hospitals, correctional facilities, foster care and other social institutions without provisional assistance as a major cause of the problem, and they maintain that those who find themselves without a home should be given access to affordable housing, proper job training, support services such as safe, affordable child care, and appropriate medical treatment to help them get back on their feet again. And with the already-daunting fiscal fiasco that is the California budget crisis continuing to swallow our state's resources, the Coalition stresses that now, more than ever, is the time for people to reach out to their community and exercise a humanitarian "zero tolerance" policy toward hunger and homelessness; they stress prevention and policy-making before the problem gets even worse.
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