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  • Hey man, I'm trying to get rid of homelessness man.

  • Trying to get rid of homelessness. First of all, I gotta come down here and figure out what the hecks goin on,

  • and figure out how the best way to help y'all out.

  • I'm going to try to figure out the best way to get y'all on your feet and

  • get y'all the opportunities y'all need to be getting.

  • That's what needs to be done because y'all been ignored down here. You can't be ignored.

  • What's happening man? What's happening?

  • Once the issue of homelessness came up,

  • and was brought to my attention, then you start seeing things that you have overlooked.

  • When I'm driving downtown or leaving the Staples Center Arena after a game,

  • Skid Row is literally a few blocks away.

  • It's not something that really registers. It's something that you just look over because

  • homelessness has been a part of our culture for so many years.

  • It's something that just kind of fades to the background without you

  • really driving by and really thinking about a person's story

  • of how did he get to this point

  • and what's keeping him there.

  • You know he went through fifteen programs.

  • When I first came to the program, I actually came through that gate right

  • there. I was distraught. I was broken.

  • I was suicidal. I was strung out. I had lost everything.

  • And I really felt hopeless.

  • At some point, the switch has to go off.

  • You can only help those who wanna help themselves.

  • But for Kenneth and some of the guys we met, they hit rock bottom

  • and it was like what am I doing with my life? I need help.

  • I didn't come from a bad family, a family where there was no father

  • or mother. I was really fortunate, so I had the best of everything.

  • But, because of bad decisions and a bad choice, for the last 30 years

  • I've been going in and out of programs. In and out of jail. In and out of prison.

  • One of my goals was to be one of the greatest horse trainers in the world.

  • I worked at some of the biggest thoroughbred ranches in California.

  • I had no vices. I didn't smoke. I didn't drink.

  • I was a health nut. I had a nice car.

  • I had a nice place. I had nice clothes. I could have been anything,

  • but in 1978, I was getting ready to take my trainer's test, and that's when I made the worst decision of my life

  • to smoke crack cocaine for the first time.

  • When he came back to the LA Mission, he was weighing about 135 pounds

  • really struggling with his addiction. To see what he's done with his life, how he

  • turned himself around and the kind of that shape he's in at 58.

  • To be honest with you. he's probably in better shape than I am right now.

  • I'm natural high right now, and I'm feeling good because I couldn't do this when I first got here.

  • I couldn't do none of this, and so ya, it's a personal achievement, a personal success.

  • The thing that jumped out at me of all of them, the word I use is determination and perseverance.

  • I get chills just talking about this because I was so broken.

  • I was distraught. I was suicidal. I had lost all hope. I didn't want to live.

  • And I came through that gate about 5:30 in the morning.

  • I walked through that gate, and I didn't really know what was going to happen.

  • I didn't know if I was going to stay. These are tears of joy right now

  • because of how I feel now. I was so broken.

  • Now I'm being put together. I'm being made whole again.

  • But when I came through those gates man, I was lost.

  • His story is one of self-reflection and how he was able to kind of step outside himself

  • and see what his life has become.

  • That being from having a very successful life to being rock bottom on Skid Row

  • and then, making that change.

  • So, his story to me is one of determination, and it's one of faith.

  • And now, I'm thinking about it. I'm reflecting back

  • on what it took to get me here. I'm just so grateful. I'm thankful.

  • I'm thankful for this place, this mission. It's given me my life back.

  • If we can just help one person to get them out of this mug in the meyer,

  • you're making the community safer.

  • It's our obligation. It's our duty, as human beings, to help these people.

Hey man, I'm trying to get rid of homelessness man.

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