A quarter of all individuals experiencing homelessness in the United States are living in New York City or Los Angeles, according to a 2020 report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
KUNR Youth Media reporter May Wells recently took a family trip to LA. She had expected to visit a city of opportunity and glamour but instead left disheartened after seeing the growing unsheltered community. She shares her feelings and frustrations in this commentary.
When we went to LA, it was not how I pictured it. Where I grew up, you didn’t really see a lot of homeless people; I don’t really see any here in Sparks. But when I went down there, you would see whole tent communities, and I just think about how it is so tough to live in an area like LA.
It actually kind of makes me mad. Everybody has bills to pay and all that kind of stuff, and some people simply cannot afford it, and I don’t think that it’s their fault at all. I feel like those people should be helped [and] wealth should be shared so that everybody can have what they need. It’s not fair for people to have more than what they need. Like, I’m talking about a huge house with 20 rooms, and they have five personal chefs and all that kind of stuff. And then other people don’t even have a tent to live in. Women in the street don’t have the toiletries that they need. Men in the street don’t have the toiletries they need.
So now, instead of thinking about LA, thinking about all of the cool things that are down there, now I’m thinking about all of the people living on the side of the road. It is just a poor sight to see.
May Wells is a junior at Spanish Springs High School. KUNR’s Youth Media program partners with the Washoe County School District to train the next generation of journalists.
