HelpingAnaheimsUnhousedmp3 - 3:28:24, 11.57 PM

Keiko Yoshimura-Brand shares her personal experiences and involvement with the unhoused community. She discusses the challenges faced by individuals who become homeless, such as tragic events and theft. Keiko emphasizes the importance of community support and connecting resources to help those in need. She highlights the efforts of organizations like VMA, Lab Anaheim, Better Way Anaheim, CityNet, and Chrysalis in providing jobs and assistance to the unhoused community. Keiko also addresses stereotypes and the need for a better understanding of the facts. She mentions the obstacles and red tape that hinder aid from reaching the unhoused community. While there have been improvements, there is still a gap between low-income housing and the next level of stability. Keiko suggests that more resources and support are needed to help individuals transition out of homelessness. She concludes by hoping that leaders will involve the unhoused community in decision-making processes to better meet t Hello, I am Steve Valencia, and today I am joined by Keiko Yoshimura-Brand, and she will be providing her testimony regarding her involvement with the unhoused community and her personal experiences. Today's presentation is part of a multimedia news story titled, Who Asked Them for Their Truths Said, regarding the unhoused community. Okay, personal level, my husband had some friends who ended up being homeless, and one case I remember is that his friend, he, his wife died, and that made him to drink more. He was very desperate, and then his friend tried to help him, which ended up stealing all his furniture, money, so he had to leave the apartment with nothing. So that was my personal, like, my husband's friend, how easily, in a sense, people can lose a place to live in, like tragedy, sense of loss, grief, and unfortunately, some bad people stealing, so that's that. That person is not a good case that ended up succeeding, unfortunately that person could never get on a truck, and he kind of drunk to death. For some people, working with the unhoused community is an everyday experience, such as for volunteers, or for social workers, but for Gershimura-Brand, this was an experience that hit close to home. So that was really shocking, even though we wanted to help, it was a very personal level, we tried to house him for a while, or, you know, take him to the hospital, so that's when I realized, okay, there's such a limit as an individual, like, supporting as a community may have a different effect. So after such a somber experience, what can you do? I definitely wanted to support those who are in need to get back on the truck. There are many community members that try to lend a hand to the unhoused community, but then there's also the major funding from the federal government, state government, and even local governments. And do any of the handlers of these funds ever ask the unhoused community what they actually need, what kind of help they require? I don't know what kind of help he got from the city, there were lots of support groups or help available, but sometimes those people who are in disparate states, like Greece, they need someone who can walk along with him, just providing, here, you should take this place, or you should take this link, it doesn't work. So again, going back, like, there needs support by the community who can take those people to such places, so connecting resources to how to use those resources, I think that's where more volunteers can help people. There are many examples of help that is provided by either individuals or non-government organizations for the unhoused community. So I was involved with VMA, Lab Anaheim, it's a non-profit organization with my local church, Magnolia Baptist Church, and what they were trying to do was to provide, working with the city, CityNet, provide jobs for homeless people. So two purposes, I think, give them to have a better routine, like get up in the morning, go to work, and get some better routine instead of just being homeless, being done, being okay to be homeless, or just being in shelter. Also, it was called Better Way Anaheim, but we helped them to get connected to Chrysalis, and they helped them how to write resume, or how to use a computer, apply for any job. So organizations, Better Way Anaheim, CityNet, Chrysalis, those are the organizations we try to work with. There are many people, including media personalities, that say that members of the unhoused community don't want to work. But are they generalizing about this community? I think for Savannah Heims and Better Way Anaheim, most of the jobs were park beautification. So we would go to the park, paint, like those playgrounds, or fences, benches, picnic tables. And I think that motivated them because it was very visible what you worked on. The park looked much nicer, and you could see people come and enjoy. So I think it was kind of short term, like whatever you worked, the result was right there, and you can bless people who use the park. So I think those were good projects. The other project we worked with Better Way Anaheim was sometimes we would go to places to assist food distribution at the schools, or packing, like care packs, or prepare for food distribution. Those were the tasks they enjoyed. So you serve, but not only for yourself, you bless other people, and it was very visible. There are simply too many hurdles and too much red tape, keeping the much-needed aid from reaching the unhoused community. I think the liability issue, or privacy issue of who does what, like who's funding where, that, not territorial, but okay, I was never being, you know, like correctly accused, but okay, we work together, but I don't want to say who takes the credit, but maybe, you know, who's responsible, who's the, you know, under whose umbrella, maybe that could have been one of the issues that, to, you know, promote or mention about it. We tend to live in a society where stereotypes are a dime a dozen, and the unhoused community is not left out. I think it's just like not knowing the facts, it's just what we see every day, freeway or parks, people asking for money, they seem to be homeless, and we sometimes see people who are, who seem to be mentally ill, like talking to himself, so maybe it's just stereotypes that's what we see every day, kind of says, oh those homeless people, they may be using drugs. In the end, we're all human, and we're all different, but we don't all have the same point of view. Sometimes there are tents under the bridge or freeway, and I find out that they are clean, but they are probably moved to another park, so I don't know if they are housed in the program, so it could be just one park shutting down so the homeless people find another place. And then there's adversity on top of adversity. I, when I was working with that organization, we would work with shelters like Salvation Army and Mercy House, Salvation Army, like before, right after COVID and so that kind of affected the shelter lockdown, like some motels used for quarantine, so yeah, I know there were lots of things happening, and that might have kind of slowed down, delayed, like for people to get out of the shelter and get on the truck, but they were quarantined or less job opportunities. Helpful improvements have been made to expedite hate, but there's still lots of red tape to cut up at higher levels. In this area, I know that some old motels were converted to low-income housing, and I know some people have been successful, so in that sense, I think I see the improvement. Yeah, all the motels converted to those low-income apartments. However, though, being a local, there are lots of apartments in the area, but once they are settled in those low-income apartments, there's this huge gap for them to keep the job and move to the next level, like other apartments, so we need something between, it's just like cost of living is going up, apartment rent is so high, so I just find, from here, so unhoused to settling into shelter or low-income apartment to the next step, I find there's a huge gap. I just feel that, like, okay, from homeless shelter to low-income, like they need something between, because I think they are at the point, okay, they are at the homeless shelter, now at the low-income apartment, you can pay the rent based on the income, but they cannot go from here to the next level, so it ends up that they kind of settle at the mindset, okay, I cannot make more than this much. I think it's very ironic, but that can be an issue, kind of stopping them to move on, maybe get, like, work more hours or more work for better paying jobs. I think once they disqualify, then they may go back to homeless again, because there's no way they can afford other apartments. Again, it could be my lack of knowledge. There may be other resources, but as far as I've worked with the organization for the last two years, I saw, like, unhoused homeless shelter, low-income apartments, or those, you know, cost, like, efficient, but again, I don't see anything between, so I think it's very hard for those people who are now trying to get better, but then get out of those low-income and move to the next level. Maybe in the future, our leaders will consider seeking the opinion of the unhoused to better provide them peace.