Homeless
Thirty to fifty thousand homeless people exist in Los Angeles alone. This is repeated in many of the cities all across the United States. There are over 3,000,000 homeless in our country. Most are not derelicts; they are people of all ages and all races who for one reason or another are down and out. Many of these people want to work and cannot find jobs-some are not qualified to work; they are borderline people who are physically or mentally ill. Many are Vietnamese or Gulf War veterans. In recent years there has been an increasing number of homeless women as well as homeless families. There has been no funding for these people. They live on the streets, rely on handouts for food and sleep in makeshift spaces or one-night shelters.
For me it all came together at Tent City, a makeshift shelter set up by the Homeless Organizing Team across from City Hall in Los Angeles during the Christmas Holidays of 1984. I felt moved and saddened by their plight and isolation. My paintings were to be a statement in yet another media to hopefully raise people's consciousness to action. That was sixteen years ago, and the same need is still there even greater than before. On May 17, 1994, the Federal government acknowledged for the first time the extent and nature of homelessness in America-and acknowledged Federal responsibility for addressing the issue.
This is 2000, it is a time when many of the welfare programs are being eliminated and we will probably find more homeless on the streets than ever before. However, what I see now is also a transitional period with the homeless, as in my latest painting of "The Homies and The Popz." This was the brainchild of Ted Hayes, social activist, who also created Dome Village some years ago, as a temporary accommodation for homeless people trying to get their act together. I believe, that if we can see that a number of the homeless are coming up with creative challenging ideas, that we can also realistically meet some of these issues and above all, not lose sight of our humanity.
Pat Berger, 2000