GIVE ME SHELTER

A documentary on the Houseless in LA

A film by Don Haderlein

The documentary film portrays various interviews interwoven with community support groups and homeless individuals telling the story of being houseless in Los Angeles. The film focuses on racism and mental illness as well as the scarcity of housing and shelter for the houseless.

Produced and Directed by Don Haderlein

In Production

Logline

Give Me Shelter is a documentary on houseless crisis in Los Angeles.

Synopsis

Give Me Shelter interviews with current leaders of prominent organizations working to aid the houseless and seek solutions to this spiraling issue in Los Angeles. They will speak of current efforts underway e.g. the Tiny Houses project and what type of support and outreach is currently being offered.

Themes:

Shortage of Affordable Housing
Criminalization of the Homeless
Mental Illness and Public Resources
Substance Abuse

Shortage of Affordable Housing

“The lack of affordable housing put pressure on Angelenos at multiple points over the past hundred years, pushing many into homelessness. However, rising property values and rents, the incursion of real estate and business interests in local development, the inability of LA City and County to coordinate on housing solutions, and lack of protections for tenants over the past forty years have all contributed to the massive shortage of affordable housing today.”

Criminalization of the Homeless

“Policing of homeless transient laborers spurred the growth of Los Angeles’s carceral system in the early twentieth century. Since then, policing and criminalization of homelessness has remained a primary method of poverty management in the region. The criminalization of homelessness has disproportionately affected people of color and homeless individuals with mental illness.”

“The Making of a Crisis: A History of Homelessness in Los Angeles”, a 2021 report by the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy1

Mental Illness and Lack of Public Services

“The lack of public services for people with mental illness, particularly those living in poverty, combined with increased recourse to law enforcement exacerbated the plight of the deinstitutionalized from the 1970s onward. Many mentally ill homeless individuals ended up cycling through hospitals, jails, and the streets. …

Substance Abuse

The prevalence of homeless adults in LA County with either a mental illness or substance abuse disorder is 67%, according to analysis by the Los Angeles Times.

In LA County, 72% of homeless adults lack shelter. Unsheltered individuals are regularly engaged by police and emergency services, rather than receive shelter and appropriate care.”

LCHP Release Report (Luskin Center for History and Policy)