Hi Friends,

Many of you may not know about the work that our 501c3, Project ID, does on the ground across the country every day so I thought I’d give you a bit of a “day in the life” of my ID work here in Los Angeles.

On Sundays, my mom (our #1 volunteer) and I set up a table at Food on Foot, a major food bank in Hollywood. Every week, a line of people snakes around the corner, all waiting for bags of groceries, a hot meal from El Pollo Loco, clothes, books, services, and more. We are there to help people get IDs.

This Sunday eleven people came to our table. One of them, Tanya, burst into tears when I gave her the birth certificate that had just arrived. Her husband Duane’s had come too. “We’re people!” he said. I celebrated with them and made a DMV appointment. Brandon’s birth certificate came too. He’s a young guy from Alabama who just wants to find a job and a home and to try to make it in California. A few folks needed us to order birth certificates before we can take them to the DMV to get their IDs, so we put in the orders and gave them the bad news that it would likely take a least a few weeks for them to get them, but the good news that when they did, we would take them to the DMV ASAP.

One young man came to check on his birth certificate. “It’s been three weeks!” he exclaimed. I had to break the news to him that three weeks isn’t long to wait at all. It’s difficult, because every day that they don’t have an ID is a day that they are still on the streets. “I just want to get my life started.”

Then there were several people whose IDs were swept by the police (common), stolen (more common), or lost (extremely common). It’s difficult keeping hold of IDs and documents when you’re sleeping on the sidewalk or in a shelter. We made arrangements to take seven people to the DMV the next day.

Yesterday, five people showed up. That is a pretty high percentage. Keeping appointments is a challenge when you’re unhoused and we often end up making two or three with someone before they finally make it. But five of our folks showed up so we packed them in my car and headed to the DMV.

In the next four hours we waited in multiple lines, waited in chairs inside, waited on benches outside. As each person’s number was called I went with them to help answer questions and to pay for their IDs. When it was Brandon’s turn, the manager didn’t want to accept a document that she is legally required to accept as proof of residency for the unhoused. We fought. I won. My LA staffer was at that moment at a different DMV with a former foster youth who had just aged out of the system. They spent the morning at the Social Security Administration because she didn’t know her social security number. Now they were at the DMV having the same problem with a manager that we were. The letter we use as proof of residency is listed on the DMV’s website and in all materials as an acceptable proof of residency for the unhoused and yet we have to fight for it at least once a week. My staffer won too. This was neither of our first go round.

Eventually, all five of my clients had their IDs. The total cost was $214. That averages to about $42 a person. $42 is a lot of money for someone who doesn’t have the ID they need to get a job. It’s almost a quarter of the $200/month that many unhoused folks in California receive in assistance. It is far, far too much money for nearly all of our clients.

This is why we must pass the IDs for an Inclusive Democracy Act. The 21 million Americans without ID shouldn’t be stuck hoping that they might run into the only national nonprofit that helps people get IDs. Their lives and safety and livelihoods shouldn’t depend on the kindness of strangers. This should not be a day in anyone’s life.

With this Act, we can ensure that every American has an ID. It will change the life of every American. Even if you have an ID in your pocket right now, your life is being affected by someone who does not. We live in a society that lives or dies by how each and every one of us is surviving. Help us pass H.R. 8221 and let’s do anything we can to change this country for good.

How can you help?
Contact Your Member of Congress ([link removed])
Donate ([link removed])

Thank you, and let’s do this.

Kat Calvin

CEO, Project ID Action Fund

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