By Greta Cobar Equal access to justice is just another one of the many American dreams that we are still dreaming about. This is a story about a group of committed individuals dedicated to closing the access to justice gap. The dedicated staff of the Eviction Defense Network, a nonprofit community based organization, provide affordable...

By Greta Cobar Shelter is a big deal – according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it is just as important as food. With the aim of preventing friends, family and neighbors from getting kicked out of the neighborhood and/or being homeless, Venice Community Housing (VCH) was formed in 1988. It has since provided low-income, affordable...

By Brian Connolly I’ve been supporting the rights of the un-housed as a political activist who dresses like John Lennon, pitching my tent overnight at different events, and then going back to my apartment. I’d made some mistakes in my life recently, though, and found myself un-housed. This is what it’s been like: I ran...

By Mary Getlein The third annual Venice sleep-out went on without a hitch. Beyond Baroque lawn was filled with tents and people sleeping, talking, laughing, and eating. The performance stage was filled with with various and different performers raging from Ross Altman, a local folksinger, the the hard-working Carol Sobel, who has represented many homeless...

Political Cartoon by Khalil Bendib By Eric Ahlberg Get a job. Nothing seems to disturb the gentrifiers of Venice like unemployed youth hanging out on their block. Why can’t they just get a job like us decent hard working American middle class people. Well maybe the jobs suck, the pay sucks, and often the employers suck.Venice has it’s share of...

One of the state’s most powerful tools to assist the vulnerable homeless population is hardly being used. Buried within California’s legal codes is a 25-year-old statute that allows counties and municipalities to declare a state of emergency when a “significant number” of homeless people exist in a community, allowing them to convert public facilities into...

By Ronald McKinley There is a bike parked just left of the multi-use utility pole on the corner of cold and homeless. We mill about; I mean “we”, not French for more sex. It’s cold, my hands barely work. I am writing with a pen. I prefer a lead pen. I make mistakes. Just right...

By Greta Cobar Apartment Investment and Management Company (Aimco) received the loan needed to redevelop Lincoln Place. Being one of the country’s largest owners and operators of apartments, Aimco received the largest unsubsidized loan ever insured by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. It amounted to $190.7 millions and it was awarded October...

By Charles Dunn What had begun two years ago, has now transpired in to an Annual event, thanks to the hard work of all the teams involved. The day August 25 started at 4pm, even the weather turned up in its full vibrance and glory for the event. There were Shoots and Ladders on a...

By Mary Getlein Well, sweetness, we are doing the best we can – we’ve made it illegal to sit in the sand after midnight – that probably gets rid of a bunch right there. It’s illegal to feed them. It’s illegal to give them money. It’s illegal to talk to them. We have to isolate...