I first met Kenneth back in 2018 when he lived in a tent homeless on Venice Beach Boardwalk. There was a small group of homeless friends that became family to me. Every chance I had, I would throw a hamburger party for about 20 homeless people that lived by the basketball courts. While I hate homelessness, I have many fond memories of eating Double-Doubles while sitting on a sidewalk. . Walter and his wife went into housing over a year ago. Alicia is in the bridge shelter waiting for housing. Kenneth was in the shelter for over two years, which is far too long. No one should live in a homeless shelter for longer than six months. 45 days or less should be the average stay. . HOUSING ENDS HOMELESSNESS . Shelters can play an essential part in a community-wide system to get people off the streets into housing; however, it all fails when there is no housing. Los Angeles homelessness continues to grow. Politicians talk about the need for more shelters or putting people in tiny shacks as a solution, but shelters DO NOT end homelessness. The lack of housing is why homeless services fail from the top down. . Probably the best part of working in homeless services is living vicariously through a soon-to-be formerly homeless person that moves into their new apartment for the first time. I am so happy for Kenneth. He moved into his own studio apartment thanks to @pathpartners and @vchcorp . I have been part of many move-ins, and I have to say this is the best one to date. Path and Venice Community Housing provided everything. I was very impressed. . While Kenneth moving into housing is an amazing success story, it's also a story of failure. Shelters are full of homeless people who are ready to go into housing, but there is not nearly enough housing for everyone that needs it. Your voice can help end homelessness. If we do not fix the affordable housing crisis, homelessness will continue to get worse. . . . #losangeles #venicebeach #homeless #homelessness #homelessshelters #housingfirst #invisiblepeople