Living Homeless in the Desert

LA County's housing crisis has gotten so severe that hundreds of people have felt they have no choice but to make camp in unincorporated areas of the Mojave Desert, where they will not be subject to police encounters.

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[avenrivera]

He been there 8 years, and they never met him. That tells you everything you need to know.

[Jelus]

I was bad on Xanax for a part of my life and my drug use led me to have my girl and 2 daughters aged 4 and 2 to live in a VW Passat. My girl left me for another dude and it was the biggest eye opener of my life. Having to shower in sinks and parking in random places to crash, but the whole time making my daughters go thru it changed me. Now ten years later I'm able to take my girls to the movies out to eat and buy them a toy when we go to the store. Never lose hope in yourself and never depend on any one. You don't know how strong you are till you face this adversity.

[DomMage]

Not all homeless people are bad. But there are those who give us a bad name. My camp is clean and uncluttered. My last camp was raided. My stuff was stolen and my tent was ripped open. I'm retired but I work part time to eat. I fly a sign only when I have to.
The homeless problem is not going to go away.
But the rent situation is out of hand. The same apartment that I payed $450 a month for is now going for $1000 to $1200 a month. That's insane. I'd rather not be a part of society. I don't like where it's going.
All the things going on in the world are shadows of things to come. Things are only going to get worse.
I know y'all won't believe me but tribulation is coming. I don't know when it will start, but we don't have much longer.

[nomadman]

I'm currently living out of a cargo trailer in New Mexico. I can relate to what these people are going through. 😢

[loub]

The craziest part is that those people have been there for 5-8 YEARS and the Deputies are saying they go out there all the time but have never met them. 🤦🏾‍♀️ telling on y’all’s self

[robchr]

You can tell the LA sheriff was just going out for the cameras because they didn't know any of the people out there or their story. The equipment was all new and the sent a lieutenant.

[xcjsgoc]

this is crazy i was one of the homeless in Lancaster for over 7 year but I left Cali

[connorspaulding]

Small point to be made. Notice how the special team used a 60, 000-80, 000 dollar truck. To tow two 15, 000-20, 000 dollar side by sides to access the same terrain that 70s recreational vehicles can reach. So they used about 100, 000 on vehicles before they could event start helping people.

[kcsweatman]

My son was homeless in Los Angeles for over 3 years. He got his big break when he tried to kill himself and ended up in a mental hospital. A social worker took interest in him and got him into counseling and a halfway house. The state helped him get into barber school, and he landed a full-time job. He eventually received a HUD voucher so he could afford housing on his own. It's really sad to think he had to almost die to get noticed. My heart goes out to all the homeless in our country. Many of them just need the right person to care.

[motleyminded]

As a former homeless person, I'm not afraid to say that the reason authorities get rid of homeless camps isn't because "it's a crime to be homeless." It's because homeless camps bring crime, drugs, filth, and other disturbances. It's not uncommon for homeless people to commit crimes to cope with their homelessness.

[Autistic_Pixel]

that cop playing it up for the camera then saying "See we gave them bottles of water, there is no tension now move along."

[StickybirdpooMusic]

I'm a dissabled veteran...I have severe mental and physical health issues. If not for my wife, who has patiently taken care of me and helped me with handling our finances, helping me to eat, and find housing...I would be living on the street alone...or dead. No, I don't do drugs, but without a loving family and any hope for the future...dayum. I think I'd drown in a bottle or die with needle in my arm to escape the he'll life can be. Everyone is at risk of homelessness, most people are just to ignorant to recognize there own fragility.

[dailyplanet]

I was homeless for 5 years in a smaller town (about one fifth the size of Lancaster's 174 thousand people) in Michigan. One winter it got as cold as 25 below zero at night for a spell of days and some poor guy froze to death sleeping in the back of a pickup truck.

The first thing you have to realize is most people really don't care. Except for a blessed few most people are worried about their own problems and you are lucky if they don't see you as a threat. You have to help yourself. The most important thing is to stay away from drugs and alcohol. I suppose that is easy for me to say because I have been able to do it, but you have to want to stay clean. Being clean and sober is a good life no matter what else you are forced to deal with. Every day we are alive is a gift from God. Thank Him for it by living it with clear eyes and a clear brain. Fight your demons without the devils crutch and ask our creator sincerely for the help you need to deal with your cravings for escape.

The second thing is get a job. Any job. And commit to staying employed no matter how much it sucks. You need that paycheck and open a bank account and save as much as you can. There will always be people who have more and people who have less. People respect you if you have a job and money in the bank.

Find a way out. What do you need? A place to sleep where you won't get rousted in the middle of the night by the cops or worse yet some psychopath out wandering around. You need food, water, a place to take a shower once in awhile, some clean clothes.

I was quite impressed with the Kensington campus. 300 rooms on 14 acres. Apparently some people in Lancaster do care and have the ability to get something done and make some progress. Maybe it is not for you but it is a blueprint for simple affordable living. A place to establish a community that is acceptable to the rest of society where you can build friendships and networks that will bring some stability. It could be a place that serves as a launch pad to maybe one day strike out and buy a couple acres in the desert, build a real house that's neat and legal and complies with zoning restrictions etc.

Anyway this is my two cents worth. It's the plan I followed and I found out the more you help yourself the more other people will help you. I was eventually able to find a house that was cheap because it had been neglected for a long time by people with problems. It had finally been abandoned and was being vandalized and I bought it before it was torn down. I have been working on it ever since. It is nice to own a piece of land and call it home.

[Dr.Subhadipsarkar]

"Trust is taken long time ago"🙂 God bless this amazing people.

[maddienat]

How horrible can you be to throw someone without a home out of somewhere they made a home….

[smarie]

I have a disability. Without my family’s care and they’re ability to help support me, I could be one of these folks. So tragic.

[kesayo]

We are no longer a society that allows people to just be somewhere without a purpose. I feel like once I leave my home, I can’t just stand or sit in one spot and do nothing without attracting suspicion. People start wondering what you’re doing and call the cops. It’s kind of unsettling to realize that.

[dawnnicolas]

I have been homeless several different times in my life. I was never on drugs or drank alcohol, always was gainfully employed. Its a really big struggle. My heart goes out to all these people.

[GrImReApPeR]

"we go out there all the time" then proceeds to ask "how long you been here?" she is like "5 years" lmao 🤣

[Lilililizzy]

This hurt. I've been homeless. Only for 6 months and I've not even had to sleep on the streets, but just the sheer fact of waking up and not knowing where you'll sleep at night is extremely debilitating. It's hard to survive and take care of your daily needs. There's hardly room to invest in a future. I cannot imagine also having to fight an opposing force; a government that is supposed to help you. Then to also be vilified by people that are just one paycheck away from being you. Absolute madness.
These people in the desert have all my respect and then some.