Day 158 - Awareness for Skid Row

I recently watched a documentary called Lost Angels: Skid Row is My Home that looks at the lives of eight remarkable individuals--people who have found a way to make a life for themselves within the community of homelessness.  Currently there are 3.5 million homeless and mentally ill people on the streets of the US and 1 in 4 people will be touched by mental illness at some point in their lives.

One of the individuals interviewed said something that really resonated with me was "We don't need more people coming down to hand out sandwiches, we need more doctors to address all the mental illness".  I have little to no experience with extreme homelessness, even severe poverty or mental illness so I have a great deal of respect for those that make their life mission to help those individuals.

One of those groups making a difference in Skid Row is Lamp Community.  Lamp Community is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization that permanently ends homelessness, improves health, and builds self-sufficiency among men and women living with severe mental illness.

They help people living with severe mental illness move from streets to homes. Lamp offers immediate access to affordable, safe and permanent housing without requiring sobriety or participation in treatment. Once settled in their home, new tenants are surrounded with customized services such as mental health treatment, drug recovery, healthcare, budgeting, visual and performing arts, job opportunities, and other supports to help them achieve their goals and become a part of their community.

So for today's random act of kindness I made a donation to Lamp Community to help support what they are doing for the individuals of Skid Row.

Day 158 - Help for Skid Row