I drove for Uber for four years making less than minimum wage in Los Angeles. I used to pick the CEOs of nonprofits up and drop them off after a night on the town, to their very expensive, trendy homes and gated communities. That's when I realized charities are just a way for the wealthy to make money. They never actually fix anything.
I remember meeting a recent Stanford grad who told me about finding a job working for a nonprofit. This was back in 2008. She said her starting salary was 80k. That was almost double my salary at the time and I was a environmental scientist. Clearly these nonprofits are need more investigation.
I used to work at a Catholic "charity" hospital for 15 years as a Registered Nurse (RN) for 15 years before my back gave out and I'm permanently disabled. Our very first CEO lasted 16 months and according to local newspaper his "golden parachute" came to $12,000,000. Want to know what I got for my 15 years of loyal service when I injured my back? I got $100.00 USD and that's it!!!
OMG'S!!! I was staying in a LAHSA homeless shelter. I have so much Intel on how they waste all this money and their wasteful actions! LAHSA primarily helps only the homeless that have an income like SSI or SSA.
If you live in California, we need to have a petition going around to have these places audited and overhauled with decent honest people. Start that petition!
Karen Bass was a lawmaker for over 10 years before she became mayor. They spent millions on housing, homeless, temporarily in hotels, but I would say the bulk of money probably just goes in the politicians pockets "non profits scam" . Karen Bass spend 50 million in four months with no accountability no receipts. There's still homeless everywhere. The city is filthy. City council just issued her another 250 million more she has no new plan.
I volunteered regularly for one of those groups (one of the biggest ones). I would hear employees complain about barely being able to afford a studio apartment, and then leave for better paying jobs. They loved the cause, and would have stayed if they were paid fairly.
i have applied for Social Security disability over 6 months ago, the reason i am not homeless and living in a tent right now, is my landlord is old friend who deferred his mortgage, when he heard my situation. SSDI is denying disability benefits to people who have MULTIPLE doctors saying they are disabled, but SS says, no we think you can work. But they don't get you a job, they just say there are jobs out there for disabled people, which is PURE FICTION, nobody is hiring disabled people. So most of these homeless people are semi disabled, not able to get a job, and our government DENY them social security and lets the county deal with them, and the county gives just barely enough to eat. It's SICK how our social security are denying poor and homeless disabled people from benefits in America!
This is a system that i have paid into and now that a doctor says i am disabled and i can't drive anymore, SSDI doesn't care. They claim i am employable, even though multiple doctor say otherwise. If i even get an interview, which i don't, i tell them about my disability, there's NOBODY hiring disabled people. THIS is why there are SO many homeless people in America.
... The Repug Scrooge congress is surprisingly generous with tax cuts to the rich, subsidies to huge corporations like fracking gas and oil, and enamored with each next weapons system which they throw billions at... annually.
the ONE doctor that Social Security had me go to was a "therapist" who didn't do anything other than ask a list of questions. And she was X law enforcement, these fascists want disabled people in PRISON instead of helping anyone.
Non profit workers work far harder than makes any sense and there’s tons of red tape. So many times where because of the rules, i had to listen to a client wondering if they’re going to be homeless again.
It like the pyramid scheme organization. The highest pay of course in charge always in vacation while the top 3 are friends and family doing nothing but wait for pay check at home and all the hard workers are at the bottom working for minimum wage are at work working.
They need to find a good lawyer and try a class action against lahsa, and round up 50-60 homeless people and have them all tell the truth. No help and no housing.. and sue tf outa this org..
I worked at domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, homeless shelter and if i wasnt living with family, I'd be homeless. I work at an elementary school now and nothing has changed. When the last couple left of my family members dies, I'll probably be living out of my car. I've saved more lives than books I've read in my personal and professional life and I'm always already potentially homeless while having shared my spaces with my homeless friends.
How do you make almost 500k a year and your organization that is supposed to fix the issue is actually making it worse. Talk about a waste of damn money.
Had an acquaintance needing a place to go, after many phone calls, I came to the conclusion that all the money goes to bureaucracy. I was told…to place someone homeless, they need a birth certificate, current ID (not even expired DL), and a social security card on them. So tell me…..what homeless person walks around with these documents? So then what good are these agencies….and what are they getting paid for?
I have to wonder where you are. I volunteer at a shelter and none of those are requirements. One of the requirements is to follow the rules. That seems to be their hardest hurdle.
Thirty years ago (or more!) a friend of mine ran a fund raising organization for Cancer Treatment. She told me that about 10-15% of collected money went to actually help people wrestling with Cancer. The rest paid salaries, advertising, and property-office rent. I remember when another national organization that sold used items at thrift shop ended up with a top figure embezzling funds. I also remember that the matter of Welfare in NYC has been on the radar for decades. Instead of block grants that would pay for affordable housing once and for all, phenomenal sums are spent renting hotel rooms. The short-term solutions that never solve the problem are baked in to the fiscal pie.
The issue is with the highest management of LAHSA, Va Lecia Adams Kellum. When a company fails, a CEO is removed. Instead, why are we still paying her $430k/year.
She just got the job, LA has been dealing with this issue since before the great depression. You're just bullying her because she's a black woman. She is uniquely qualified for this role, she is worth way more than 400k
Why would an executive make decisions to end homelessness when it means they lose their cushy job? Charity in the US is intended to help the wealthy feel good about "helping" and not about actually changing the dynamics that cause the problem. You know that there are many people who can do the job of those executives for a lot less money and might actually do something for the homeless.
Having worked in the shelters in Oregon, I can attest that we all have the same issue. The director and higher-ups get what they need but anyone lower are paid at poverty levels. They never have enough staff and those who work closest with the people experiencing homelessness are burnt out and the shelters have a large turn-over. Most of us are on food stamps while working overtime. Some who are staff are actually dealing with homelessness themselves. The system is not only broken, it's breaking us.
Thank you for this video. Sadly, this is typical nonprofits. Directors usually select their own puppet boards. There needs to be caps on all nonprofit salaries. I would include ALL employees in public services positions...including overtime. They should NEVER make more than the president of the United States!
As a Houstonian, thank you Cenk for pointing out something Houston got right. We're fighting a progressive uphill battle in Texas, Houston has fraud in it's government, HPD need a reform, and the pollution is killing us all (multiple chemical plant and warehouse fires plus at least 2 train derailments just this past month). But every now and then we get some good stuff achieved! Don't get me wrong, homelessness is still a MAJOR issue in Harris and Galveston County but we're trying to be better ♥
@@georgeglass3680 Humanity did fine before capitalism. Dont embarrass yourself trying to claim capitalism gave improvements that were actually from science, technology and new discoveries. Ever noticed Star Trek is money free? Money is the downfall of humanity
The Dallas Morning news did research on the charities here Ii North Texas. How much money they brought in, the CEO's pay ,. The top people make millions of dollars every year, the little people ( volunteers) made nothing!! Oh, the big charities had a goal to reach every year.I was shocked!!
Indeed. I remember the big scandal with the United Way decades ago. At the time I had money being auto deducted from my pay to donate... bastards! I forget the name of the website that rates Charity groups and discloses supposedly their financials. It's how I go about it or food at a local bank. No guarantees perhaps.
So we're not going to say the E word and talk about utter corruption? When I was in my 20s in SF I remember the first Homelessness Czar who got paid 6 figures to solves Homelessness. Everything got worse. Its not about solving poverty, its about providing services to help people get back on their feet and addressing those who can't...I'm amazed that people refuse to understand this and would rather blame any Houseless person for being "lazy" or "drug addicted"...things they would never say about a Banker who committed massive fraud...
THEY DON'T ADDRESS HOMELESSNESS! I've experienced the LA homeless support and it's about redtape and proving oneself worthy of assistance. It's requiring engagement in various "programs" for weeks or months dealing with so called "barriers" when the focus should be housing first support services second. What I experienced was as a veteran the average homeless individual definitely has it even worse.
The argument is that the top person is supposed to be a "draw" for donations. Making their salary a loss leader. However, I've always found the non-profit model used by institutions a scammer's paradise.
I will never understand the change to the term unhoused. If you are living on the street, do you feel better being called unhoused instead of homeless?
Thank u! I've been saying this for years. The NGOs are paying themselves 6 figures & getting rich off the homeless industry. & they actually have a goal to make homelessness worse & worse year after year, because it equals more money for them. Solving the homeless crisis means they would put themselves out of a job.
@@undrwatropium3724 none of these NGOs move homeless off the street into permanent housing. No, they pay homeless "advocates" & high price lawyers to fight cities when they try to do sweeps & clear out camps. They pass out free tents & food (tho alot of that ends up in dumpsters), & lobby aggressively to get cities to take a hands off approach to the homeless, getting vagrancy, panhandling & drug use & possession laws changed.
I worked for 8 yrs with a very well established and reputable non profit and didn't even earn $24,000. The things they got away with and the disregard for their employees left such a bitter feeling in my mouth. I have changed my major altogether now. By the way, ALL non profits pay minimum wages to the workers that actually do all work. It is exactly as Anna said. The money stays at the top and never ever trickles down.
So with 3 billion dollars it would be $3 billion / 60,000 homeless == $50,000 per year. So homeless people could be getting $50,000 per year salaries if there was no corruption.
These homeless organizations are dependent on homeless people. If they truly resolved the problem, they wouldn't have a job. So do you really think that they are trying to resolve homelessness? They're making it a permanent entity that will be forever. They're not alone. A ton of jobs are dependent on people with issues: mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence, etc. I like that you covered this & I wish you would dive further into it, maybe in the Bullpen & invite those outreach workers to talk about the obstacles they face.
Yep. Poverty pimps, the homeless-industrial-complex. Who wants to lose their almost $500k a year jobs? Not the people in the positions at these "non-profits".
This is true. I volunteered here in Houston TX at a place called "The Beacon" which offers breakfast and lunch for homeless people downtown. I helped fold clothes and feed people, but after a few days I did research on the owners who don't even work there. These people are rich as hell, meanwhile The Beacons daily operator barely makes $40,000 a year. There's a huge discrepancy in non profit organizations.
Preach!! We outreach workers deserve a raise so we can help these people on the streets. This misuse of money needs to stop the higher ups don’t need any more raises or bonuses!
You outreach workers are hated and not trusted by the homeless. You steal their belongings and put their stuff in your own pockets. No help you lie to the homeless just to put your quota up
We to get rid of ALL corruption! We need 100% transparency from public servants! It does seem like we have too many "non-profit" businesses and churches that aren't doing right by the people.
Lol 😆 3 billion a year 🤣, reality 3 billion will buy home for every homeless person in entire CA and some money will be left for other services,, what a joke
The problem is, private equity and the commodification of housing. They artificially inflate prices causing a chain affect, where small landlords think they must raise their rents because the SOB corporate landlords run Zillow and other businesses that dictate prices in order to maximize profits at the expense of renters. This may sound good and what you’re supposed to do in a capitalist system but it’s wrecking families and individuals because it’s taking all of their disposable income. Small businesses need to rise because it’s affecting their businesses as well.
That's really it. "Investment" in housing. Not to be used as housing, but as store of value. There have always been valuable areas in cities, but it's getting worse. Bigger and bigger slices of city become something investors look more like really big bars of gold rather than just ultimately consumable protection against elements they really are.
We let them make it complicated. It's easy to get not for profit and nonprofit confused. I've been noticing that a lot lately. Watching if the "rules" are broken is much easier than watching the workers. That's how corruptions finds its way, by letting the rules bend. If either entity is structured to watch the rules not just the staff, then you can keep track of "all" corruption and stop it immediately. There are real solutions to every problem. We just got to get good at it. Great video by Ana by the way.
Unfortunately, there is absolutely no incentive for non-profits/homeless advocates to "solve'" the homeless problem. If the problem is solved, the funding disappears.
I work for homeless services in Seattle, directly with clients in a very low barrier shelter. I make about 25/hr when you factor in my overtime. Plus benefits. It's stressful. Yes, there is downtime, but you always have to be alert and ready for something crazy to happen because it can at literally any moment. It could be the quietest night, and then you hear a thud in the bathroom that turns into an overdose, and it's zero to one hundred in seconds as you simultaneously start narcan and cpr, call 911, and radio for management and others to assist. Or maybe you hear talking, and then suddenly cussing and shouting, and boom you've got guys a hairs breadth from throwing hands and you have to deescalate that at 3AM, with other guys yelling at the two to STFU. And if you fail, now you have 911 calls, supervisor calls to exit one or both clients, etc., and you might get hurt if someone decides they don't like you trying to stop them. After all of that you have paperwork out the wazoo. Oh, and did I mention we're not allowed to go hands on to defend ourselves or other clients or we risk getting fired? Then there's the mundane tasks of cleaning the bathrooms, handling trash, which can and does deal with the risk of disease, lice, fleas, and bed bug infestation, nevermind occasional exposure to fentanyl and the ever present risk of used needles. I stay because I care about the mission and am happy to be a part of it, and I like the job overall. The pay isn't so bad. But should I be paid more? Absolutely. Because a lot of my coworkers leave, and we are not easy to replace.
Same in London, UK. One bedder is around 2K, with an average salary getting you around 2.8K per month (on 41K a year, 33.2K take-home pay). That would leave you with 800 quid per month for transport (around GBP 100), food (around GBP 200) and any other expenses. AND most people I know get less than 41Kpa. The average is skewed because of all the people working in banking and law in London. Normal people are on around 28-35K pa, which is a take-home monthly pay of around 1.8K, hence why everyone is sharing flats. A room nowadays is around 1.2K, so it leaves you with nothing. Companies pay hunger wages here!
The ONLY reason we did NIMBY paperwork here is because the whole neighborhood knew the land behind our houses was swamp/marsh. Three feet of water was back there during a thunderstorm. The ditch has to be repaired every 6 months, too. Homes at the end of the ditch flood over and over. My neighbor was in a CANOE in his back yard last hurricane. The guy who owned the land was a rich old white man who just wanted us annexed into a crappy city to get his way. We showed with videos and pictures if they built the apartments behind us, it would be a mess. A church finally bought the land and is now being built on STILTS because they surveyed the land correctly after the seller lied for years.
Even without mental illness and/or drugs, people experiencing homelessness are often sleep deprived, overly stressed, malnourished, eating junk foods... It's hard to be nice n friendly when you're unable to have basic needs met. Please remember homeless does not equate mental illness and drug addiction... Lots of people lose their homes through job loss❤
@@bruggeman672 you don’t know anything about homeless people. Anyone with a right mind that is a good hardworking smart person can get off the street with all the Social programs we have. If someone is homeless it’s because even their family gave up on them
Maybe im not understanding the entire situation, but should we also be looking at WHY is the cost of living so high in LA? Shouldnt we address that as another way to potentially work to reduce homelessness?
This is the problem nationwide, the government needs to build low income/homeless housing themselves. Also they need to put limits on how much a home is worth. Where I live our home is ACTUALLY worth about $140-150k. But Zillow has us at $285k! They jacked it up $50k at once a cpl years ago. Our whole AREA in town the homes all magically went up in value by $50k. But nothing major changed. Our old home from my hometown, was $110k in 2014, it's now up to $286k....it's only 884sq ft 3bed 1 bath. Granted we did a good amount of work on it before we sold it in 2016 for $117k. But the new owners haven't done anything else to it really. It's INSANE how this housing bubble is right now, and we're nosediving right into another recession and this housing bubble is going to burst and a lot of ppl/businesses are going to lose a lot of $ again. We need rent control and sales control as well. So that these big companies like Zillow can't go in and buy a whole housing or apartment development, then jack the rates way up so that no one can friggin afford them!
California is know to utilize the majority of land for expensive homes and equal or low income housing initiatives are always voted down. I'd rather have one in my backyard than a squatter in a tent on my street.
We hear "millions", "billions", and "trillions" thrown around so much that it starts to lose all meaning. So, I'd like to offer some perspective: * 1 million seconds = about 11 days * 1 Billion seconds = almost 32 *_YEARS_* * 1 TRILLION seconds would take you back in time beyond 24,000 B.C.
This is appalling. Think of all the homes for the homeless which could be built for the amount of money spent, and productive construction jobs created. Look at how New Zealand and Great Britain dealt with housing after the Great Depression and WWII.
Three *_BILLION_* dollars is enough to give 60,000 individual people $50,000 each .. which is enough to eliminate homelessness in L.A. altogether if it was spent responsibly .. under some guidance and with a plan / program. It really isn't that complicated.
I remember a study where people were given a money card. And when people are trusted, they are responsible. People are capable of self-regulation. I find the idea of paying $500,000 a year for overseeing the spending of money by poor people is offensive. The basis of supremacy is the concept that the poor can't be trusted with money.
@@robertnewland8358 I don't disagree .. and I hope my comment doesn't sound like that's what I was proposing. I think the money should go directly to the poor. However, I think the program does need to have _some_ structure and oversight, a lot of which could be automated or just baked-in to the system. SNAP cards can only be used to purchase food, for example. I also think the (idealized and conceptual) program should be comprehensive .. so not so much means-testing, but making sure that participants have access to addiction treatment, mental health care, employment training, etc. Most people _do_ want to work and feel a sense of pride and self-reliance. Of course there are those who don't, or can't. There's a lot of nuanced variables and details, and I feel like I could write a book here right now exploring the whole thing and hashing it all out, but as I said, I really don't think this problem is very complicated to solve. ☮
No one is really trying to help the homeless. The power structure has nothing but hatred and contempt for the poor and homeless. The non profits only assist the homeless in at best, surviving from day to day and never in ways that will move them forward in their lives toward being adequately housed and this is done out of shear spite. The homeless are their bread and butter. If they go away, their incomes eventually go away also. This is so amazingly exploitative. It's like witnessing some dystopian horror movie/comedy in slow motion.
Fire the CEO or cut her salary by 75 percent. Disgraceful while people suffer in homelessness she and a few others are drinking wine and eating caviar.
Call me a cynic, but I suspect a lot of this money is being kicked back to state and local politicians. I’ve heard the situation described as the “homelessness-industrial complex.” No one has any incentive to end homelessness.
They don't, they just enjoying daily vacations on our expense not working and keep on pocketing $$$$ while many of them they hired like friends and family just don't do nothing as well just stay home and wait for there checks meanwhile they have to show a little little and pay little little a few mirgants to dumped and cover up there show.
This happens across the board when it comes to nonprofits ... In the type of advocacy I do , many folks experience burn out and exploration but get shamed into doing the work for less than they deserve in the name of "making the world a better place" while the folks at the top eat steak and lobster
How about prosecute these people who have mismanaged this MONEY. These people keep doing the same thing because they know they're going to get away with it. Either we don't prosecute them or even if we do they get slapped on the wrist
It's easy to get not for profit and nonprofit confused. I've been noticing that a lot lately. Watching if the "rules" are broken is much easier than watching the workers. That's how corruptions finds its way, but letting the rules bend. If either entity is structured to watch the rules not just the staff, then you can keep track of "all" corruption and stop it immediately. There are real solutions to every problem. We just got to get good at it. Great video by Ana by the way.
Unless you treat housing as a human right you can throw all the money you want at the problem and it won’t be solved. Humans need shelter to live. Our present system looks at housing as a way to grow wealth. It is one of the most obscene failures of capitalism.
The typical CEO pay structure is improper for these nonprofits. They all need to run like co-ops because the people at the top who never touch a computer and are simply figure heads are not the ones doing the big work that's needed. That system drives good hearted people out of nonprofits and sucks them dry.
Does anyone find it funny with the budget cuts, that not one single congressional person is willing to give up one of their team members, secretary, fact finders,etc. To help the country save some money on our budget???? Think about it, how much money could the country save if they printed their own documents, or picked up their own dry cleaning, etc...
3billion dollars handed out to these organizations? That could probably house every homeless person in Los Angeles County. Wtf is wrong with this picture?
As someone who volunteers with organizations that battle homelessness, I can say the last few stats given in the HUD(?) report aren't very useful when talking about the mismanagement of funding. The success of my paid colleagues who work on placing people in shelters and rehabs aren't successful based on the resources they have. 90% of the time that work only needs a phone and a reasonably quiet space. Their ability to meet those goals relies heavily on the shelters and centres having space. One of the ladies I assist uses the analogy that its like a game of tetris, except another person is controlling what spaces are open. This is because its not just based on space. Each person has different needs. They can't just place a person with extreme schizophrenia into a place that can't support them. They'll just end up on the streets again. And hospitals have weird policies. I remember we collectively felt failure when one of our clients had better help when he was picked up on an outstanding warrant and did a month in jail. Jail shouldn't have given him more support than we could. It was bittersweet when he used his phone time to call our outpost and tell us that he missed us. A lot of us got teary because he's rarely that lucid. But we also felt sad that he was in there instead of getting proper help as a free man. I'd like to clarify the warrant was for trespassing. The dude doesn't have the wherewithal half the time to know when he's on private property or not. We didn't even know he had an outstanding warrant until he was picked up lol (that also goes to how invisible homeless people are to the police, this client is hardly subtle, and the community knows who he is. Its not like he was a criminal mastermind dodging arrest)
As a former homeless person, This makes me SICK!
I drove for Uber for four years making less than minimum wage in Los Angeles. I used to pick the CEOs of nonprofits up and drop them off after a night on the town, to their very expensive, trendy homes and gated communities. That's when I realized charities are just a way for the wealthy to make money. They never actually fix anything.
I remember meeting a recent Stanford grad who told me about finding a job working for a nonprofit. This was back in 2008. She said her starting salary was 80k. That was almost double my salary at the time and I was a environmental scientist. Clearly these nonprofits are need more investigation.
Non-profit means corrupt these days. Who isn't corrupt now anyway?
I used to work at a Catholic "charity" hospital for 15 years as a Registered Nurse (RN) for 15 years before my back gave out and I'm permanently disabled. Our very first CEO lasted 16 months and according to local newspaper his "golden parachute" came to $12,000,000. Want to know what I got for my 15 years of loyal service when I injured my back? I got $100.00 USD and that's it!!!
*...Christ.*
OMG'S!!! I was staying in a LAHSA homeless shelter. I have so much Intel on how they waste all this money and their wasteful actions!
LAHSA primarily helps only the homeless that have an income like SSI or SSA.
If you live in California, we need to have a petition going around to have these places audited and overhauled with decent honest people. Start that petition!
Karen Bass was a lawmaker for over 10 years before she became mayor. They spent millions on housing, homeless, temporarily in hotels, but I would say the bulk of money probably just goes in the politicians pockets "non profits scam" . Karen Bass spend 50 million in four months with no accountability no receipts.
There's still homeless everywhere. The city is filthy. City council just issued her another 250 million more she has no new plan.
Contact ROC Restaurant Opportunities Center as they have ton of people and outreach to lot of people that they empowered to vote...
$3 Billion is enough to give each of those 60,000 homeless people $50K per year.
Just hand it out to them, these "non-profits" are a grift.
😂😂😂
The money is not going to the homeless. It is going to these greedy grifters making money off the homeless.
I volunteered regularly for one of those groups (one of the biggest ones). I would hear employees complain about barely being able to afford a studio apartment, and then leave for better paying jobs. They loved the cause, and would have stayed if they were paid fairly.
Typical America spent $1.7 Trillion on multiple failed F-35 jets that could have housed ALL the US homeless 29 times over.
That's why Republicans are gung ho for a fat military budget. It starves the rest of the economy.
Wow. People are getting filthy rich by accepting money to help the homeless. And then not fixing the homeless problem.
Guess they have permanent employment
*Yes. It's a decades-old scam.*
i have applied for Social Security disability over 6 months ago, the reason i am not homeless and living in a tent right now, is my landlord is old friend who deferred his mortgage, when he heard my situation. SSDI is denying disability benefits to people who have MULTIPLE doctors saying they are disabled, but SS says, no we think you can work. But they don't get you a job, they just say there are jobs out there for disabled people, which is PURE FICTION, nobody is hiring disabled people. So most of these homeless people are semi disabled, not able to get a job, and our government DENY them social security and lets the county deal with them, and the county gives just barely enough to eat. It's SICK how our social security are denying poor and homeless disabled people from benefits in America!
It’s part of the sickness of our culture where people are expendable and “cash is king”.
This is a system that i have paid into and now that a doctor says i am disabled and i can't drive anymore, SSDI doesn't care. They claim i am employable, even though multiple doctor say otherwise. If i even get an interview, which i don't, i tell them about my disability, there's NOBODY hiring disabled people. THIS is why there are SO many homeless people in America.
... The Repug Scrooge congress is surprisingly generous with tax cuts to the rich, subsidies to huge corporations like fracking gas and oil, and enamored with each next weapons system which they throw billions at... annually.
the ONE doctor that Social Security had me go to was a "therapist" who didn't do anything other than ask a list of questions. And she was X law enforcement, these fascists want disabled people in PRISON instead of helping anyone.
I have SO MUCH RESPECT and appreciation for you two -- vital show. Keep at it! Our country needs you!
The workers trying to help the homeless end up homeless themselves. Cmon America, do better!
Non profit workers work far harder than makes any sense and there’s tons of red tape. So many times where because of the rules, i had to listen to a client wondering if they’re going to be homeless again.
*That's been my experience, too.*
It like the pyramid scheme organization. The highest pay of course in charge always in vacation while the top 3 are friends and family doing nothing but wait for pay check at home and all the hard workers are at the bottom working for minimum wage are at work working.
They need to find a good lawyer and try a class action against lahsa, and round up 50-60 homeless people and have them all tell the truth. No help and no housing.. and sue tf outa this org..
I worked at domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, homeless shelter and if i wasnt living with family, I'd be homeless. I work at an elementary school now and nothing has changed. When the last couple left of my family members dies, I'll probably be living out of my car. I've saved more lives than books I've read in my personal and professional life and I'm always already potentially homeless while having shared my spaces with my homeless friends.
How do you make almost 500k a year and your organization that is supposed to fix the issue is actually making it worse. Talk about a waste of damn money.
This is an excellent expose, awesome job
Had an acquaintance needing a place to go, after many phone calls, I came to the conclusion that all the money goes to bureaucracy. I was told…to place someone homeless, they need a birth certificate, current ID (not even expired DL), and a social security card on them. So tell me…..what homeless person walks around with these documents? So then what good are these agencies….and what are they getting paid for?
Thank Gavin Newsom for that
I have to wonder where you are.
I volunteer at a shelter and none of those are requirements. One of the requirements is to follow the rules. That seems to be their hardest hurdle.
People who misuse money for the homeless and the poor should be convicted to live homeless for 4 years minimum.
Thirty years ago (or more!) a friend of mine ran a fund raising organization for Cancer Treatment. She told me that about 10-15% of collected money went to actually help people wrestling with Cancer. The rest paid salaries, advertising, and property-office rent. I remember when another national organization that sold used items at thrift shop ended up with a top figure embezzling funds. I also remember that the matter of Welfare in NYC has been on the radar for decades. Instead of block grants that would pay for affordable housing once and for all, phenomenal sums are spent renting hotel rooms. The short-term solutions that never solve the problem are baked in to the fiscal pie.
It's the American way.
so this is where all our money goes, to pay people to help the homeless (instead of giving it to the homeless).
why do you need these people?
The issue is with the highest management of LAHSA, Va Lecia Adams Kellum.
When a company fails, a CEO is removed.
Instead, why are we still paying her $430k/year.
She just got the job, LA has been dealing with this issue since before the great depression. You're just bullying her because she's a black woman. She is uniquely qualified for this role, she is worth way more than 400k
@@visibletoa11userz ?? what does the CEO's race or gender have to do with this ??
Crook & Corruption
They even trashed trucks load of homeless food daily more than what a restaurant would trash leftover food.
10 vacant buildings for every 1 homeless person is society's failure
Thank you for covering this story. So important and eye opening
Why would an executive make decisions to end homelessness when it means they lose their cushy job?
Charity in the US is intended to help the wealthy feel good about "helping" and not about actually changing the dynamics that cause the problem. You know that there are many people who can do the job of those executives for a lot less money and might actually do something for the homeless.
Having worked in the shelters in Oregon, I can attest that we all have the same issue. The director and higher-ups get what they need but anyone lower are paid at poverty levels.
They never have enough staff and those who work closest with the people experiencing homelessness are burnt out and the shelters have a large turn-over. Most of us are on food stamps while working overtime.
Some who are staff are actually dealing with homelessness themselves.
The system is not only broken, it's breaking us.
Thank you for this video. Sadly, this is typical nonprofits. Directors usually select their own puppet boards. There needs to be caps on all nonprofit salaries. I would include ALL employees in public services positions...including overtime. They should NEVER make more than the president of the United States!
Does that include payments from China?
And the state and federal funding that’s pumped into the non profits…it’s a very vicious cycle, and State and federal auditors ruthless.
As a Houstonian, thank you Cenk for pointing out something Houston got right. We're fighting a progressive uphill battle in Texas, Houston has fraud in it's government, HPD need a reform, and the pollution is killing us all (multiple chemical plant and warehouse fires plus at least 2 train derailments just this past month). But every now and then we get some good stuff achieved! Don't get me wrong, homelessness is still a MAJOR issue in Harris and Galveston County but we're trying to be better ♥
@@Hypersyllabicsesquiterpene Cenk is a turd.
Any time large amounts of the public's money is involved, you can bet corruption is rampant.
Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur are the best I've seen hitting on real social problems and lately they are getting better. Thanks guys!
They were advocates of defund the police. That totally backfired
Wow I work at a HUD property and I am so glad this story. This is area of the issue that needs a lot more attention
Corruption is bipartisan. Money is the downfall of humanity.
*Lack* of money is the downfall of humanity.
@@georgeglass3680 Humanity did fine before capitalism. Dont embarrass yourself trying to claim capitalism gave improvements that were actually from science, technology and new discoveries.
Ever noticed Star Trek is money free?
Money is the downfall of humanity
Just imagine how fairer things would be if those top executives were not allowed to earn more than double their lowest paid employee.
This needs to be the law everywhere
The reliance on nonprofits to do the job that the government should be doing has turned me off the charity industry in America.
The Dallas Morning news did research on the charities here Ii North Texas. How much money they brought in, the CEO's pay ,. The top people make millions of dollars every year, the little people ( volunteers) made nothing!! Oh, the big charities had a goal to reach every year.I was shocked!!
Indeed. I remember the big scandal with the United Way decades ago. At the time I had money being auto deducted from my pay to donate... bastards!
I forget the name of the website that rates Charity groups and discloses supposedly their financials. It's how I go about it or food at a local bank.
No guarantees perhaps.
So we're not going to say the E word and talk about utter corruption? When I was in my 20s in SF I remember the first Homelessness Czar who got paid 6 figures to solves Homelessness. Everything got worse. Its not about solving poverty, its about providing services to help people get back on their feet and addressing those who can't...I'm amazed that people refuse to understand this and would rather blame any Houseless person for being "lazy" or "drug addicted"...things they would never say about a Banker who committed massive fraud...
Sounds like they have no real interest in helping the houseless, they are just making money off of them! 🤬
THEY DON'T ADDRESS HOMELESSNESS! I've experienced the LA homeless support and it's about redtape and proving oneself worthy of assistance. It's requiring engagement in various "programs" for weeks or months dealing with so called "barriers" when the focus should be housing first support services second.
What I experienced was as a veteran the average homeless individual definitely has it even worse.
That’s angering. Pisses me off.
You guys are the best news source around. I love your honesty and your conviction when you deliver your stories. Keep up the good work
The argument is that the top person is supposed to be a "draw" for donations. Making their salary a loss leader. However, I've always found the non-profit model used by institutions a scammer's paradise.
Thank you for covering this and in a very kind and sensitive way ❤🙏
I will never understand the change to the term unhoused. If you are living on the street, do you feel better being called unhoused instead of homeless?
Thank u! I've been saying this for years. The NGOs are paying themselves 6 figures & getting rich off the homeless industry. & they actually have a goal to make homelessness worse & worse year after year, because it equals more money for them. Solving the homeless crisis means they would put themselves out of a job.
🎯
@@undrwatropium3724 none of these NGOs move homeless off the street into permanent housing. No, they pay homeless "advocates" & high price lawyers to fight cities when they try to do sweeps & clear out camps. They pass out free tents & food (tho alot of that ends up in dumpsters), & lobby aggressively to get cities to take a hands off approach to the homeless, getting vagrancy, panhandling & drug use & possession laws changed.
I worked for 8 yrs with a very well established and reputable non profit and didn't even earn $24,000. The things they got away with and the disregard for their employees left such a bitter feeling in my mouth. I have changed my major altogether now. By the way, ALL non profits pay minimum wages to the workers that actually do all work. It is exactly as Anna said. The money stays at the top and never ever trickles down.
*Witness!*
So with 3 billion dollars it would be $3 billion / 60,000 homeless == $50,000 per year. So homeless people could be getting $50,000 per year salaries if there was no corruption.
They will never do it. But you are so right.
$80k a pop for a shed that can be bought at Home Depot for $1600.
These homeless organizations are dependent on homeless people. If they truly resolved the problem, they wouldn't have a job. So do you really think that they are trying to resolve homelessness? They're making it a permanent entity that will be forever. They're not alone. A ton of jobs are dependent on people with issues: mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence, etc. I like that you covered this & I wish you would dive further into it, maybe in the Bullpen & invite those outreach workers to talk about the obstacles they face.
BINGO !!! You hit it right on the head. AMEN !!!!
Yep. Poverty pimps, the homeless-industrial-complex. Who wants to lose their almost $500k a year jobs? Not the people in the positions at these "non-profits".
No Issue = No $$
The homeless problem will continue as long as housing remains a commodity.
This is true. I volunteered here in Houston TX at a place called "The Beacon" which offers breakfast and lunch for homeless people downtown. I helped fold clothes and feed people, but after a few days I did research on the owners who don't even work there. These people are rich as hell, meanwhile The Beacons daily operator barely makes $40,000 a year. There's a huge discrepancy in non profit organizations.
Preach!! We outreach workers deserve a raise so we can help these people on the streets. This misuse of money needs to stop the higher ups don’t need any more raises or bonuses!
You outreach workers are hated and not trusted by the homeless. You steal their belongings and put their stuff in your own pockets. No help you lie to the homeless just to put your quota up
We to get rid of ALL corruption! We need 100% transparency from public servants! It does seem like we have too many "non-profit" businesses and churches that aren't doing right by the people.
Lol 😆 3 billion a year 🤣, reality 3 billion will buy home for every homeless person in entire CA and some money will be left for other services,, what a joke
The problem is, private equity and the commodification of housing. They artificially inflate prices causing a chain affect, where small landlords think they must raise their rents because the SOB corporate landlords run Zillow and other businesses that dictate prices in order to maximize profits at the expense of renters. This may sound good and what you’re supposed to do in a capitalist system but it’s wrecking families and individuals because it’s taking all of their disposable income. Small businesses need to rise because it’s affecting their businesses as well.
That's really it. "Investment" in housing.
Not to be used as housing, but as store of value. There have always been valuable areas in cities, but it's getting worse. Bigger and bigger slices of city become something investors look more like really big bars of gold rather than just ultimately consumable protection against elements they really are.
We let them make it complicated. It's easy to get not for profit and nonprofit confused. I've been noticing that a lot lately. Watching if the "rules" are broken is much easier than watching the workers. That's how corruptions finds its way, by letting the rules bend. If either entity is structured to watch the rules not just the staff, then you can keep track of "all" corruption and stop it immediately. There are real solutions to every problem. We just got to get good at it. Great video by Ana by the way.
Unfortunately, there is absolutely no incentive for non-profits/homeless advocates to "solve'" the homeless problem. If the problem is solved, the funding disappears.
You've given up at the start line?
NIMBY. They don't want the low income housing near them, but a huge tent city of homeless is better?
I work for homeless services in Seattle, directly with clients in a very low barrier shelter.
I make about 25/hr when you factor in my overtime. Plus benefits.
It's stressful. Yes, there is downtime, but you always have to be alert and ready for something crazy to happen because it can at literally any moment. It could be the quietest night, and then you hear a thud in the bathroom that turns into an overdose, and it's zero to one hundred in seconds as you simultaneously start narcan and cpr, call 911, and radio for management and others to assist. Or maybe you hear talking, and then suddenly cussing and shouting, and boom you've got guys a hairs breadth from throwing hands and you have to deescalate that at 3AM, with other guys yelling at the two to STFU. And if you fail, now you have 911 calls, supervisor calls to exit one or both clients, etc., and you might get hurt if someone decides they don't like you trying to stop them. After all of that you have paperwork out the wazoo.
Oh, and did I mention we're not allowed to go hands on to defend ourselves or other clients or we risk getting fired?
Then there's the mundane tasks of cleaning the bathrooms, handling trash, which can and does deal with the risk of disease, lice, fleas, and bed bug infestation, nevermind occasional exposure to fentanyl and the ever present risk of used needles.
I stay because I care about the mission and am happy to be a part of it, and I like the job overall. The pay isn't so bad.
But should I be paid more? Absolutely. Because a lot of my coworkers leave, and we are not easy to replace.
Same in London, UK. One bedder is around 2K, with an average salary getting you around 2.8K per month (on 41K a year, 33.2K take-home pay). That would leave you with 800 quid per month for transport (around GBP 100), food (around GBP 200) and any other expenses. AND most people I know get less than 41Kpa. The average is skewed because of all the people working in banking and law in London. Normal people are on around 28-35K pa, which is a take-home monthly pay of around 1.8K, hence why everyone is sharing flats. A room nowadays is around 1.2K, so it leaves you with nothing. Companies pay hunger wages here!
The ONLY reason we did NIMBY paperwork here is because the whole neighborhood knew the land behind our houses was swamp/marsh. Three feet of water was back there during a thunderstorm. The ditch has to be repaired every 6 months, too. Homes at the end of the ditch flood over and over. My neighbor was in a CANOE in his back yard last hurricane. The guy who owned the land was a rich old white man who just wanted us annexed into a crappy city to get his way. We showed with videos and pictures if they built the apartments behind us, it would be a mess. A church finally bought the land and is now being built on STILTS because they surveyed the land correctly after the seller lied for years.
Excellent report! Study all major markets! Thank you!
Nonprofit Industrial Complex is based on Corporate Industrial Complex
Very true
All non profits should be much more highly scrutinized.
Even without mental illness and/or drugs, people experiencing homelessness are often sleep deprived, overly stressed, malnourished, eating junk foods... It's hard to be nice n friendly when you're unable to have basic needs met. Please remember homeless does not equate mental illness and drug addiction... Lots of people lose their homes through job loss❤
Gotta make em think it's druggies or else they'd have to raise wages or lower prices.
I can’t tell you never lived near homeless people
@@bradadult2075 meaning what exactly?
@Cj great post
@@bruggeman672 you don’t know anything about homeless people. Anyone with a right mind that is a good hardworking smart person can get off the street with all the Social programs we have. If someone is homeless it’s because even their family gave up on them
Finland has a much better solution, but America worships Corporations so much they won't adopt it or at least use it as a reference.
So very true!!
This is so important that this is being reported.
3 billion, 60,000 homeless =50,000 each for rent
Maybe im not understanding the entire situation, but should we also be looking at WHY is the cost of living so high in LA? Shouldnt we address that as another way to potentially work to reduce homelessness?
This is the problem nationwide, the government needs to build low income/homeless housing themselves. Also they need to put limits on how much a home is worth. Where I live our home is ACTUALLY worth about $140-150k. But Zillow has us at $285k! They jacked it up $50k at once a cpl years ago. Our whole AREA in town the homes all magically went up in value by $50k. But nothing major changed. Our old home from my hometown, was $110k in 2014, it's now up to $286k....it's only 884sq ft 3bed 1 bath. Granted we did a good amount of work on it before we sold it in 2016 for $117k. But the new owners haven't done anything else to it really. It's INSANE how this housing bubble is right now, and we're nosediving right into another recession and this housing bubble is going to burst and a lot of ppl/businesses are going to lose a lot of $ again. We need rent control and sales control as well. So that these big companies like Zillow can't go in and buy a whole housing or apartment development, then jack the rates way up so that no one can friggin afford them!
California is know to utilize the majority of land for expensive homes and equal or low income housing initiatives are always voted down.
I'd rather have one in my backyard than a squatter in a tent on my street.
unhouseness*
Nobody believes that 3 billion dollars would not pay for housing.
When HOMELESSNESS becomes an industry..... Then guess what... its not gonna be fixed. Because then the money tap stops dripping.
That's why career politicians don't solve problems.
If they solved the homeless problem, they wouldn't have a job.
*Mm-hm. The prison-industrial complex works the same way.*
@@SinewRendingThe 1994 Crime Bill comes to mind.
And No $$$$$$$$
We hear "millions", "billions", and "trillions" thrown around so much that it starts to lose all meaning. So, I'd like to offer some perspective:
* 1 million seconds = about 11 days
* 1 Billion seconds = almost 32 *_YEARS_*
* 1 TRILLION seconds would take you back in time beyond 24,000 B.C.
American non profit is an oxymoron.
NGO = grift
This is appalling. Think of all the homes for the homeless which could be built for the amount of money spent, and productive construction jobs created. Look at how New Zealand and Great Britain dealt with housing after the Great Depression and WWII.
Free home? No more mortgage/rent?
Can you imagine how many people would suddenly become "homeless?"
Why don't lefties ever think things through.
Three *_BILLION_* dollars is enough to give 60,000 individual people $50,000 each .. which is enough to eliminate homelessness in L.A. altogether if it was spent responsibly .. under some guidance and with a plan / program. It really isn't that complicated.
I remember a study where people were given a money card. And when people are trusted, they are responsible. People are capable of self-regulation. I find the idea of paying $500,000 a year for overseeing the spending of money by poor people is offensive. The basis of supremacy is the concept that the poor can't be trusted with money.
@@robertnewland8358 I don't disagree .. and I hope my comment doesn't sound like that's what I was proposing. I think the money should go directly to the poor. However, I think the program does need to have _some_ structure and oversight, a lot of which could be automated or just baked-in to the system. SNAP cards can only be used to purchase food, for example.
I also think the (idealized and conceptual) program should be comprehensive .. so not so much means-testing, but making sure that participants have access to addiction treatment, mental health care, employment training, etc. Most people _do_ want to work and feel a sense of pride and self-reliance. Of course there are those who don't, or can't.
There's a lot of nuanced variables and details, and I feel like I could write a book here right now exploring the whole thing and hashing it all out, but as I said, I really don't think this problem is very complicated to solve.
☮
No one is really trying to help the homeless. The power structure has nothing but hatred and contempt for the poor and homeless. The non profits only assist the homeless in at best, surviving from day to day and never in ways that will move them forward in their lives toward being adequately housed and this is done out of shear spite. The homeless are their bread and butter. If they go away, their incomes eventually go away also. This is so amazingly exploitative. It's like witnessing some dystopian horror movie/comedy in slow motion.
Corruption, the real issue behind a lot of our problems.
Federal Reserve said the bottom 50% have 3% of the country's wealth while the top 1% has 30%. This story is that illustrated.
Fire the CEO or cut her salary by 75 percent. Disgraceful while people suffer in homelessness she and a few others are drinking wine and eating caviar.
Keep reporting on this Young Turks. This is such a misuse of funds. It makes me sick.
Call me a cynic, but I suspect a lot of this money is being kicked back to state and local politicians. I’ve heard the situation described as the “homelessness-industrial complex.” No one has any incentive to end homelessness.
I would call you someone with a conscience. No doubt, battling corruption is a fight worth fighting and knowing that you're ACTUALLY saving lives!
They should be fired and locked up for stealing
There is enough in the world for everyone’s need. But not enough for everyone’s greed. ~ Gandhi
Most of the CEOs if these charities get paid obscene salaries to do next to nothing.
*They aren't charities.*
They always in vacations while having mirgants people doing there dirty job like a pyramid scheme.
Yes I agree they should eliminate the executive assistant position for bums.
The root of 80% of the problems in this country can be explained using just one word: Greed.
Capitalism.
@@IceAxe1940 Capitalism can work for everyone instead of just a few, if greed is kept in check. And is not.
@@tureytayno3154 *That has never been the case. Capitalism only works for a select few.*
Corruption
I am so 😡. How do you made 400k taking care of the homeless in the most homeless ridden city in America?
*You don't. And Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and New York all give Los Angeles a run for its money.*
They don't, they just enjoying daily vacations on our expense not working and keep on pocketing $$$$ while many of them they hired like friends and family just don't do nothing as well just stay home and wait for there checks meanwhile they have to show a little little and pay little little a few mirgants to dumped and cover up there show.
LA sure isn't the only place where an investigation is needed.
In New York non profits lobby against raising the minimum wage.
Of course when you privatize everything it never works.
This happens across the board when it comes to nonprofits ... In the type of advocacy I do , many folks experience burn out and exploration but get shamed into doing the work for less than they deserve in the name of "making the world a better place" while the folks at the top eat steak and lobster
How about prosecute these people who have mismanaged this MONEY. These people keep doing the same thing because they know they're going to get away with it. Either we don't prosecute them or even if we do they get slapped on the wrist
Cause the're eftists
It's easy to get not for profit and nonprofit confused. I've been noticing that a lot lately. Watching if the "rules" are broken is much easier than watching the workers. That's how corruptions finds its way, but letting the rules bend. If either entity is structured to watch the rules not just the staff, then you can keep track of "all" corruption and stop it immediately. There are real solutions to every problem. We just got to get good at it. Great video by Ana by the way.
Turns out, you can make money off the poor . . .
Lol yeah politicians do it everyday
The Poor, Weak and Unfortunate.
Unless you treat housing as a human right you can throw all the money you want at the problem and it won’t be solved.
Humans need shelter to live. Our present system looks at housing as a way to grow wealth. It is one of the most obscene failures of capitalism.
The typical CEO pay structure is improper for these nonprofits. They all need to run like co-ops because the people at the top who never touch a computer and are simply figure heads are not the ones doing the big work that's needed. That system drives good hearted people out of nonprofits and sucks them dry.
I can't even explain to you how much I agree and understand your comment.
3b a year on los angeles alone??? why we do even have homeless problem then??? whats going on
*Did you listen to the report?*
@@SinewRending yes
@@pluto3687 *Top people in the organizations are hoarding the money for themselves.*
Does anyone find it funny with the budget cuts, that not one single congressional person is willing to give up one of their team members, secretary, fact finders,etc. To help the country save some money on our budget????
Think about it, how much money could the country save if they printed their own documents, or picked up their own dry cleaning, etc...
Thank you for standing up for folks without homes
The NIMBY laws are really detrimental to the cause of affordable housing. It sucks.
But homeless demanding housing on the beach is detrimental too.
3billion dollars handed out to these organizations? That could probably house every homeless person in Los Angeles County. Wtf is wrong with this picture?
As someone who volunteers with organizations that battle homelessness, I can say the last few stats given in the HUD(?) report aren't very useful when talking about the mismanagement of funding. The success of my paid colleagues who work on placing people in shelters and rehabs aren't successful based on the resources they have. 90% of the time that work only needs a phone and a reasonably quiet space. Their ability to meet those goals relies heavily on the shelters and centres having space. One of the ladies I assist uses the analogy that its like a game of tetris, except another person is controlling what spaces are open. This is because its not just based on space. Each person has different needs. They can't just place a person with extreme schizophrenia into a place that can't support them. They'll just end up on the streets again. And hospitals have weird policies.
I remember we collectively felt failure when one of our clients had better help when he was picked up on an outstanding warrant and did a month in jail. Jail shouldn't have given him more support than we could. It was bittersweet when he used his phone time to call our outpost and tell us that he missed us. A lot of us got teary because he's rarely that lucid. But we also felt sad that he was in there instead of getting proper help as a free man. I'd like to clarify the warrant was for trespassing. The dude doesn't have the wherewithal half the time to know when he's on private property or not. We didn't even know he had an outstanding warrant until he was picked up lol (that also goes to how invisible homeless people are to the police, this client is hardly subtle, and the community knows who he is. Its not like he was a criminal mastermind dodging arrest)