Published on Jun 8, 2020, 12:02:00 AM
Total time: 00:27:38
In the first episode of Samaritans, we meet Christine Curtiss, learn where she came from and what her everyday life is like on the street. She has a community of friends in Mid-City, LA who look out for her. One of them enlists the local government in helping Christine. But getting help doesn’t necessarily mean getting housed.
Los Angeles County is spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year to combat homelessness. Yet the problem is getting worse. Why? Well, part of the answer is simple: LA's severe shortage of affordable housing. But that's not all there is to it. For more than a year KCRW reporter Anna Scott followed a woman named Christine Curtiss through LA’s homeless services system to find answers. Listen to Christine's journey in the four-part podcast "Samaritans."