Tag Archives: free food

Hollywood Homeless May Face Starvation

West Hollywood Food Coalition Under Assault by City, Cops, Big Real Estate Corporations

Class War Rages in Hollywood

Food TruckThe class war is intensifying in Hollywood, as it is nation-wide.  With millions of foreclosures each year, more and more people are being put on the street.  Combined with the exporting of good jobs to China, it’s hard for many to survive on the minimum wage jobs that still exist, and especially since a lot of these are part-time jobs.  Paying rent of $800 or more for a single apartment on a part-time minimum wage job is tough.  More people than ever are living in their vehicles or on the street.  One reason a lot of homeless go to Hollywood to “live” is that the image-myth of Hollywood attracts thousands of tourists from around the world, making pan-handling easier there than say, Pacoima or Long Beach.

But Hollywood continues to have a massive development scheme.  Big buildings, condos, and towers continue to be built.  Billions of dollars are pouring into the area’s real estate.  And if there is one thing the real estate moguls don’t like to see, it’s homeless people.  “It’s bad for business.”  It gives the lie to the image of growth and success that the moguls are trying to polish up. If they don’t keep up the “Rah Rah” then their buildings may end up vacant. Although the breaking point of rents is fast approaching, the big investors who now own so much of Hollywood’s commercial and office buildings, seem to be oblivious to the further eroding of the economy.  So the word is out: Get rid of the homeless.  Push them out to somewhere else.  Anywhere but Hollywood.

A Lesson From The History Books

One way is to take a lesson from the history books.  When the American Imperial expansion was in full swing, the main obstacle was the Native American tribes, who had been residents of the land,  now called “The United States of America”, for thousands of years.  Solution: kill off the buffalo, food supply for the Natives.  This ultimately weakened many tribes into submission and made them dependent on food from the government.  This same tactic is now being pushed in the Hollywood area.  Cut off the food supply, harass them at every turn, arrest them, push them out.  This combined assault by the City of Los Angeles and it’s big business backers is now threatening the 27 year old Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition (GWHFC).

The GWHFC has fed about 200-300 folks a night for 27 years.  Operating on the corner of Sycamore and Romaine in Hollywood, help is there with a hot meal and often with volunteers who help the seniors and homeless with issues like health, legal problems, and psychological counseling.  Now comes the class war:  the Health Department demanded that all the tables and chairs be removed from the sidewalks; microscopic inspection of the food prep building; citations for anything imaginable; cops trolling the food lines trying to find homeless who have warrants outstanding; cops and B.I.D. police hanging around looking to cite anyone.  If you ever wanted to know what it was like to eat a meal in a Nazi food distribution during WW2 (if there even was one), then this is it.  Even during the great depression, big mobsters like Al Capone set up food kitchens in Chicago and fed thousands on the streets.  The politicians of today aren’t even as nice as the 30’s mobsters.  They hate the thought of feeding anyone, other than their honorable selves, of course.

Homeless Treated Worse Than Animals by Cops, City Politicos

If you are a senior or homeless and would like a free hot meal at the GWHFC nightly food distro, get ready to be treated like a dog.  Not by the good folks at the Food Coalition, who are trying to cope with this attack, but by a heartless, cruel City and their squadrons of Cops.  There are no tables to sit down and enjoy a meal.  You have to sit on the ground.  There’s no place to wash your hands, no bathrooms or porta-poties. Men, women, and children grovel on the ground for their gruel because the Food Coalition can no longer put out chairs and tables.

Americans, Unlike Other Humans, Do Not Ever Have To Go To The Toilet – An Entire Nation of Anal Retentives

Business people and some residents complain about the damage done or the annoyance in the neighborhood.  “I saw a homeless guy pissing on a tree.”  What do you expect?  There’s no bathrooms in the area and a lot of Hollywood businesses and restaurants try to keep them out of their bathrooms.  If the City can’t provide some free bathrooms, then you get what you deserve.  An outsider or visitor from another planet would notice right away that Americans never go to the bathroom.  These places, if they exist at all, are hidden away in secret corners, even in Shopping Malls.  Contrast this with Europe.  Go to London or Paris.  Bathrooms everywhere. In London the “Water Closets” are manned by old pensioners who exist on tips.  They work shifts and keep the places clean.  Think of all the seniors here in Hollywood.  A lot of them would like a job like that, just as soon as America joins the rest of the civilized world.  Meanwhile, it’s “piss-o-rama” on the back streets of Hollywood and will continue to be until the City of L.A. and the Hollywood business people wake up to THEIR responsibility to provide bathrooms FOR EVERYONE. (Hey, even the beloved tourists have to “go”)  And they could also find a suitable building in the area of Romaine and Sycamore and let the good folks at the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition go about their humane efforts to feed the hungry.  It is a responsibility for everyone to pitch in and help.  So to the Hollywood Fat Cats and Moguls: call off the Cops and sour-faced bureaucrats and lend a hand in finding a solution. Make the world a better place by becoming anal-expulsive.

Hidden Camera Shows Cops Lining Up Homeless “Suspects” at Sycamore and Romaine

Burbank Area Free Hot Meals

The Lord’s Kitchen

Free Saturday Lunches in Burbank

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1st Saturday

11am – Emmanuel Church 438 E. Harvard Rd. Burbank.

Nervous Rex 2Country Group Nervous Rex Performs Free at Emmanuel Church Lunch for Seniors and Homeless People.  Johnny Cash being good for the soul!

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2nd Saturday

2:00 pm. First Presbyterian Church, 521 E. Olive Ave.  Good Hot Lunch

IMG_0187Monster Thanksgiving Dinner at First Presbyterian Church – Gypsy Cool says that this was really delicious!  He took a Photo to remember it during the hard times when all there is to eat is can of sardines.

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3rd Saturday

2:00pm – Village Church, 3216 W. Victory Blvd, Burbank.  Downstairs in the Rec Hall.

IMG_0201Christmas Saturday Lunch at the Village Church. Their Girl Scout Troop often helps to plan, prepare and serve seniors and homeless.

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Last Saturday (ALWAYS THE LAST SATURDAY)

1:15pm – St. Jude’s Episcopal Church, 111 S. 6th St., Burbank.  These good folks who serve you usually pay for the food themselves.  God bless them a thousand times over for their generosity.

May 28, 2013 083 St Jude 2Boxes of Fresh Produce Sometimes Provided by the good folks of St. Jude’s and Gypsy Cool volunteers. Produce supplied by the generous folks at Trader Joes.

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When There Are 5 Saturdays then the 4th Saturday is at:

Noon – Westminster Presbyterian Church, 542 N. Buena Vista, Burbank.

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Every Saturday Free Breakfast

8:30 – 10:00am – Burbank Church of Christ, 3012 W. Burbank Blvd.

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3rd Sunday – Usually Sept. through June – Senior Lunch

12:15 pm – St. Finbar Catholic Church, Keystone and Olive Ave. (2010 W. Olive Ave.), Burbank.

More Free Food in Hollywood For Those in Need

Programs for Seniors and Others in Need

Last Saturday Every Month –  Senior Lunch

Ambrose and Vermont Ave. (Just south of Los Feliz), Hollywood.  The Church there serves a hot lunch for seniors at 11 am.  Good food according to seniors who have been there.

2nd and 4th Saturdays – Free Breakfast

ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE CHURCH

7501 Hollywood Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90046

(323) 876-2102

Free breakfast every 2nd & 4th Saturday of the month from 8:00 am to 9:00 am. Also offers counseling and referrals.

 

 

 

Free Food in Hollywood

Hot Food Every Day at Sycamore and Romaine

Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition Feeds the Hungry

Hollywood food coalition

From their website:

Every night between 6:15 and 7:30 a community comes together at the barren street corner of Sycamore and Romaine, along the border of Hollywood and West Hollywood. On the one hand – on one side of the table – are the volunteers of The Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition, a broad-based grass-roots organization which for the past 25 years has served a hot, fresh, and nutritious meal every night to the homeless and hungry. On the other hand are between 150 and 200 men and women who have somehow or other fallen through the cracks, and for whom the meal they are about to eat, sumptuous as it is, might well be the only meal they have all day. The GWHFC is comprised of actors, producers, writers, artists, teachers, journalists, lawyers, housewives, and a corps of former “clients” who have all had a strong desire to give back by volunteering in Los Angeles. Serving a meal to the “homeless and hungry” is the smallest part of what we do. We meet them on their own turf, talk to them, and listen. We get to know them as individuals, and, little by little, in all kinds of ways, we then help them to think better of themselves and to not be shy about asking for specific, practical help – which the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition, entirely unsystematically, then tries to provide. All together, volunteers and homeless, form a kind of microcosm of what the larger community ought to be, but now, in the big city, is no longer. The motto of the GWHFC is simply this (with no religious strings attached): I Am My Brother’s Keeper.

Their website is:  www.gwhfc.org

 

 

L.A. Housing Partnership 2012 Holiday Food Distribution

Schedule of Food Distribution Nov/Dec 2012

Place:  2614 W. 7th Street, Los Angeles.

Date:  Wednesday November 21, 2012

Time: 4:00pm

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Date: December – No Food Distribution at that location.  But a big food distro at “Winter Festival” on Monday, December 17, 2012 at MacArthur Park.

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Posted by Uncle Paulie/ Thanks to Barbara B. for this update.

Los Angeles Area Food Distro

SOVA Food Bank Distribution

Click here SOVA to go to website to get complete information on their programs.

Here is some of the information, please visit their website.

METRO –

Our new Metro pantry is located in West Hollywood at 1140 N. La Brea Avenue, West Hollywood, CA 90038.

The METRO pantry is located on the east side of La Brea. Metered parking is available on La Brea as well as on surrounding streets.

WEST –

Our West pantry is located in the Pico-Robertson area of West Los Angeles at: 8846 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035

The WEST pantry is located on the south side of Pico Blvd. one-half block west of Robertson Ave. Metered street parking is available on Pico Blvd. and surrounding streets as well as in a parking lot located just a few doors west of the building.

VALLEY –

Our Valley pantry is located in the middle of the San Fernando Valley at: 16439 Vanowen St., Van Nuys, CA 91406

The VALLEY pantry is located on the north side of Vanowen St. one-half block east of Hayvenhurst Ave. Our building is located off the street behind a row of storefronts. Follow the driveway that is between Taqueria San Jose and Costa Azul Restaurant to our parking lot.

Pantry Hours:

Metro

Sunday 9:00 am – 12:00 noon

(2nd and 4th Sunday of each month ONLY)

Monday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Tuesday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Wednesday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Thursday NO Food Distribution

Counseling services by appointment only.

Friday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

West

Sunday 9:00 am – 12:00 noon

(1st and 3rd Sunday of each month ONLY)

Monday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Wednesday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Friday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Valley

Sunday 9:00 am – 12:00 noon

(Open every Sunday except holiday weekends)

Monday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Tuesday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Wednesday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Friday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

 

 

Food Circles and Food Meet-Ups

Why You Need To Organize a Food Circle Now

About a year ago, when it was evident that more and more people are becoming either homeless or “financially challenged”, some of my friends started to seriously worry about having enough to eat.  Many of us were going through times when there was just no money to buy food.  Constant hunger blinds you to a lot of other things, and the human body needs to eat.  Living in a vehicle makes it harder to eat at all, much less eat healthy.  If you have some money left over from your job, or if you have an income that is at least modest, you can eat at restaurants every day.  However, many now do not have that much money – it gets expensive to do that.  If you are living in an RV you at least have a refrigerator and cooking facilities.  If you are in a van or car it gets tougher to prepare meals.

There’s things you can do when you are in a car or van to help on this, but it is another subject for another post, and I welcome reader comments on your experiences.  This post is about creating what we call a “Food Circle” or Food Meet-Up.  When the realization hit that food was becoming a problem, we started to exchange information about where to get cheap meals, places to get free food, where to “dumpster dive” for food, and other topics.  The information led to us getting food and then distributing it (for free of course) to each other and to other needy folks.  Now a part of our lives has become constant searching for food solutions, the first of which is GETTING the food.

Talk to a few of your friends about this and form a mini food “co-op”.  Find out where to get free food.  Each person gets a bag or two.  Markets and market dumpsters are good for fresh stuff. I will have more detailed posts on places to get food, but now GET ORGANIZED.  I don’t mean elect presidents and secretaries, this is not the film club.  Get a few of your friends and agree to get food for free (or cheap) and share it.  Meet at least once a week.  Give your excess to others who are unable to physically participate.  Once you start looking for food you will find it, but believe me, with friends helping friends it is much easier.  10 -20 people is a good number for a Food Circle.  Everyone goes to different places and gets food.  At the weekly Food meet up you share it.  This will give you a new attitude on the real meaning of life and friendship.  There is nothing better that sharing food and love with your friends, and then with others you don’t even know.  You can even have a food “picnic” once a month, where your group goes to the park and have a fun pot-luck food festival.

In some parts of the cities the problem of hunger is really overwhelming.  You can’t do it all, but you can start with one Food Circle and help your friends.  Meet up now, and get started in a meaningful way.  Urge others to do the same.  When this first started, some of us were really embarrassed that things had gotten so bad that food was such a problem.  The truth is that the economy is not good and getting worse.  The VALUE of your dollar is going down, the more the banks print money, the more the money is worth less.  It’s called inflation.  Think back to 1960 (if you are old enough and still have some memory cells).  A gallon of gas was 25 cents.  A pack of cigarettes was 25 cents.  A cup of coffee was 5 cents or 10 cents, the same with a coke.  A paperback book was 25 – 35 cents, comics were 10 – 15 cents.  Are you starting to get the picture?  You could rent an apartment in L.A. for $50 bucks a month.  How much are all these things now?  Everything has gone up 10 to 15 times since 1960.  Except of course, YOUR WAGES, if you even have a job.  Because of inflation, the minimum wage should be around $30 an hour, just to keep even with 1960.

When the government tells you that there isn’t much inflation, they are lying.  They don’t count food, rent and gasolene, some of the most important things in your life.  Now you can clearly see the seriousness of our situation.  Don’t feel embarrassed about it, it’s a crushing fact.  Now all we can do is to help each other out of this.  Solutions are there for us.  We are thinking about a new slogan:  “Starve a banker, feed a Senior”.

Future posts will cover:

Where to get Free food

Where to get cheap food.  Much help is around for Seniors especially.

How to prepare food in your car or van.