By Sikivu Hutchinson
During
a recent youth voter education and registration outreach for high school
juniors and seniors in South Los Angeles, Women’s Leadership Project program students spoke
passionately about how their parents and caregivers were struggling with high
rents in the shadow of eviction. Twelfth grader Nigia Vanetty spoke
of the insanity of paying for hundreds of dollars in utilities on top of rent. CSULB
graduate and former homeless youth Imani Moses related how it was difficult to
find a job that paid enough to do so in overpriced L.A. Even though college
degrees have never guaranteed living wage employment for Black folks,
joblessness among college-educated Black youth has worsened over the past
decade. For many Black youth, stress and
depression, driven by unstable living situations, are a persistent source of
trauma. Doubling and tripling up in the
homes of extended family, couch surfing temporarily with friends and relatives,
and living in cars have become standard for basic survival. According to the L.A. Downtown News, the number of children on Skid Row doubled
in 2018. Downtown shelters are at capacity
and exposure to street violence, police harassment, sexual abuse, and food
instability makes homelessness a mental and emotional health hazard for very
young children who then have to cope with trying to stay in school.
During the 2016-2017 school year, there were 17,258 homeless students in the Los Angeles Unified
School District. Nearly 40% of homeless
youth identify as queer and LGBTQI and 25% were involved in the juvenile justice
system. According to the L.A. Homeless
Services Authority’s 2018 homeless count, there are 2210 homeless youth
(sheltered and unsheltered) in the City of Los Angeles, a figure which includes
Transitional Age Youth (TAY), unaccompanied minors, and children in young
families.
Skyrocketing homelessness has been a major factor in the push for
Proposition 10, which would allow local municipalities to determine
their own rent control regulations by repealing the 1995 Costa
Hawkins law restricting rent control.
The median
rent in L.A. County is now $1676 for a one-bedroom apartment and a whopping
$2175 for a two-bedroom. Major developers and corporate real estate interests
have poured millions into trying to defeat Prop 10. Their efforts underscore
the apartheid state of California housing. In a region with the greatest gap between
rich and poor, the presence of tents, campers and folks sleeping on the street has
become normalized for NIMBYs who decry homelessness but vociferously oppose
the most modest efforts to construct supportive housing. Across California, the fallout from rising
rent and home prices has been particularly devastating for African American
communities struggling with inveterate unemployment and wealth inequality.
Traditional African American communities in South L.A. and Inglewood have
become increasingly unaffordable due to rent gouging and the proliferation of
developers, flippers, and white homebuyers who’ve been priced out of the
Westside and South Bay. Structural racism in the rental market and housing
market go hand in hand. As noted in
LAHSA’S October Ad Hoc Committee report
on Black People Experiencing Homelessness, “Black folks are too often precluded
from housing due to racial discrimination on the part of property owners,
leasing agents and property managers.”
These factors have virtually shut out Black Millennials from the wealth
generation that comes with homeownership and equity.
Proposition
10 is no magic bullet for California’s housing affordability crisis. Investment in permanent supportive housing,
equitable job development and homebuying opportunities, wraparound services for
homeless domestic and sexual violence victims and transformative justice must
come from the City and County’s multi-million dollar measure H and HHH funding.
But by providing a level playing field for renters Prop 10 would give working
families a fighting chance in the battle to ensure that children aren’t thrown
onto the street by greedy landlords exploiting the state’s supernova real
estate market.
