Los Angeles,
rock bottom.
We're on Skid Row,
the city's worst neighborhood,
and one of America's most dangerous.
Even so, we can film here because we're joined by
'The General' and are able to get some rare insights.
He's been living on the streets here for almost 20 years.
He's 61 now, and Skid Row is his life.
His young son lives far away with his mother.
They see each other every two months.
The General lives here in this tent.
This is all he has.
Believe it or not, it's my think tank,
like with the Egyptians.
They used to build these small pyramids
where they would come sit in, where they went to think.
Well, believe it or not, I get a lot done here.
It's a way for me to get away from the world.
You know?
It's an evil, cruel world out there.
'General Dogon' was his nickname in prison.
First came drug addiction, then a life of crime:
a bank robbery, muggings.
He served eleven years — time spent reading about prisoners' rights.
He wrote prison complaints and became an activist.
Now he works for an aid organization,
and earns $1,500 a month,
$1,000 for his wife and child, $500 for himself.
He believes that politicians want to keep Skid Row this way —
to get rid of the homeless, here or straight to jail.
Poverty and homelessness have always been criminalized in this city.
Homeless people have always been looked at
as third-class citizens, degenerates of society.
And with that said, investments have never been put into homelessness.
Investment has been put in, but not in housing, but for policing.
So, the majority of the money, the reason why you see all this,
goes to policing the homeless as opposed to housing the homeless.
Entire neighborhoods in the U.S. were segregated
and consistently neglected — especially black neighborhoods.
It was called redlining and its consequences are still felt here.
Sheer poverty and hopelessness:
Pete White helps the homeless
with his organization LA CAN.
General Dogon also works for it.
Pete White wants to dispel some myths about homelessness.
If you create a whole policy rooted in people are houseless
because they want to be, because of their substance abuse,
because of mental illness,
then the government has no role, right?
The government's not responsible.
But when you start talking about housing affordability,
housing availability, then you start talking about structures.
Permanent housing is the key.
The city of Los Angeles has also recognized this.
But there is not enough affordable housing.
A one-bedroom apartment in LA costs an average of $2,000.
Maria Esparza was lucky.
After two years in a homeless shelter,
she found her way into a city program
and now has her own apartment.
It's a day of new beginning for me.
I love my place.
It's comfortable.
I love my big, huge bed.
And just to be able to sit here,
do your artwork, write, listen to music, watch TV,
and just be by yourself, is very nice.
I've missed that.
In the municipal program, there are social workers in every home to
help residents get back on their feet, also for the long term.
But there is a shortage of hundreds of thousands of apartments.
So, the city is trying to build quickly,
repurposing municipal buildings and hotels and trying to stop people
from losing their homes in the first place.
What we want to do is stop the inflow into homelessness.
Right here in LA County, we're able to bring about 200 people
inside every day into housing, and about 220 people
become homeless on that day.
So we have to stop the inflow into homelessness.
If we're able to stop that inflow,
then we'll be able to solve homelessness.
That is, even with the $700 million that California has made available,
they struggle to cope with the problem.
But LA CAN activists see light at the end of the tunnel.
Now it's just not the black and brown poor people,
now you have white folks and Asian folks
and others who are struggling in this economy.
I am hopeful that with so many other
new faces joining the ranks of the poor,
that we will be able to build the power necessary to
actually have policy that values people over profit.
The American dream may be unattainable — but there's
always a little hope.
General Dogon is trying to save some money so
he can move from a tent to an RV.
My wish would be for everybody to have a place,
like the rats and the roaches.
We all got somewhere to go crawl into, the cubbyhole.
It's evening in Los Angeles, and as many leave the glittering
office buildings for their beautiful homes, right next door,
on Skid Row, some people prepare for another rough night.