I remember driving a friend down to Skid Row one night, not long before we left Los Angeles to move to Seattle. My friend was involved in a rehabilitation program on Skid Row, as was her husband of many years. They lived separately while they pursued healing from addiction, received job training, and moved toward permanent housing and employment. Driving through Skid Row at night is an experience I will never forget. The images from that evening are fresh and real in my mind even today.
I remember hearing about the L.A. times reporting on the practice of hospitals dumping patients along Skid Row, some still in their gowns; others still hooked to IV’s. I remember also hearing often enough about police dumping homeless or mentally ill individuals in locations far outside the boundaries of the communities they would patrol, or often at or near Skid Row as well.
I read this story today about the financial settlements that came out of investigations into these dumping cases with one particular L.A. area hospital. It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out. (HT James Love)