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| Picture taken on 1/29/12 11:30 a.m. It was a beautiful day in Santa Monica. My family and I were there for a day trip. |
Santa Monica, a small coastal city of 84,000 people living within 8.3 square miles to the west of Los Angeles, has long struggled with a major homeless problem.
The first homeless "census" ever done for Los Angeles County, in January 2005, estimated that about 2,000 of the people identified as homeless in the county were in Santa Monica—about 3 percent of all people that the study estimated to be homeless county-wide, and considerably more than might be expected on the basis of area or population alone.
In 2010 and 2011, the number of homeless people in Santa Monica hovered at about 740. That's a significant drop since 2007, when the counts first began and volunteers noted 999.
In 2011, Santa Monica participated in a countywide count, the largest in the country. The results of that survey were recently released: 51,340 people were without permanent homes, according to Guest.
City officials emphasize that tracking regional data is equally important to collecting local statistics. Twelve percent of the nation's homeless live in Los Angeles County, and Santa Monica, Skid Row and Venice are the most impacted.
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Following is a video of a homeless man in Santa Barbara and his pets. They work State Street every week for donations. The animals are pretty well fed and are mellow. They are a family.
The man who owns them rigged up a harness for his cat so she wouldn't have to walk so much (like the dog and himself). At some juncture the rat came along, and as no one wanted to eat anyone else, the rat started riding with the cat and, often, on the cat!
The dog will stand all day and let you talk to him and admire him for a few chin scratches.
The Mayor of Santa Barbara (not Santa Monica) filmed this clip and sent it out as a holiday card.
A great video . . . Click on the link below:
Click here: http://www.youtube.com/v/D85yrIgA4Nk
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