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This is Craig. I helped him get his ID. We were both VERY excited. This week was a good one.
Along with Craig, Sade got three more IDs this week! We're finally at the point where the first of the birth certificates are coming in and we're starting to see a lot of clients come back so we can make appointments to take them to the DMV. We have at least a dozen appointments over the next few days and, luckily, our final two LA staff members (for now!) have joined us to help carry the load! Beth and Oscar started on Tuesday and by Wednesday afternoon they had already helped with intake, gotten documents notarized, and had a big load of people to take to the DMV on Friday. Luckily they're both wonderful people with a lot of experience doing case work.
They couldn't have come at a better time. We are still getting dozens of calls a day and are having to turn people away at our weekly tabling spots, while at the same time we are adding more weekly tabling appointments around the county. The need is so great and so concentrated that we may actually have to find a way to get our first ever office space.
Yesterday, between my time at the tiny village and the weekly tabling spot, I met a client and his caseworker at his tent where a notary drove up and notarized a Consular Request for Birth Abroad from the back of her pickup truck.
Earlier in the week, Sade and I went to an encampment in West Adams, where a very kind man who volunteers with a West Adams community group asked us to come meet two people who need IDs. We pulled out our laptops and were getting their information when a carload of people pulled up asking for ID help, and then a man walked by who needed an ID, and pretty soon the guys we were helping were calling out to their friends as they passed and saying hey! I know you need an ID! Come over here! So there we were, sharing my phone's hotspot, laptops on our knees, taking down information and making appointments!
I also got a reminder of how precarious our clients' situations are this week. Mark, a wonderful man and leader of the Venice tent city community, is waiting for his birth certificate. I wanted to fill him in on the latest but he wasn't texting me back so I went to see him after taking Craig to the DMV. It turns out, Mark tripped into a ditch, tore a ligament, and has been trapped in his tent for a week. His phone was dead and he didn't have any painkiller. He was so angry at his helplessness and upset that he hadn't even been able to wash. Mark is always neatly dressed and his tent is always so clean, but not now. I bought him some ibuprofen and groceries and told him I'd come check on him soon, which I will, but it was a reminder that when you are unhoused one small thing can have a massive impact on your life.
If I tore a ligament I would be in agony (and I would complain a lot, I have zero tolerance for pain) but I would be able to go to the doctor and shower in my house and order groceries and because all of my friends and family have houses and cars I would have people who could help care for me. I also wouldn't miss work, which I am lucky to even have, because I have a computer and internet. And my phone is always charged because, unlike a tent, houses have plenty of electrical outlets. This is why housing has to be our number one priority. At least 20% of LA's homeless have full or part time jobs. But without a home, that job is at serious risk.
But LA isn't the only place where things are happening. We hired an amazing community leader to join our Detroit team as a field staffer, specifically working with our Detroit Public Schools partnership, which has been absolutely swamped with students and parents needing IDs.
We also found a wonderful new member of our Orlando team, she has been working and volunteering with the unhoused community in Orlando since she was young and her energy and enthusiasm is going to be a real asset to the team.
We're also building a lot of exciting new partnerships around the country, and we'll be onboarding our new Board of Directors soon! Oh, and thank you SO much to everyone who has donated to our Amazon wish list, between the winter storms in the East and Texas and the massive need in LA, the goods are really making a difference.
This is a long one but so much has happened!! Thank you so much for making all of this possible.
Kat
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