Lucrecia is a cancer survivor and was in the army for four years. Like tens of thousands of homeless Angelenos, she lives homeless in a tent in Los Angeles’s Koreatown.

Lucrecia had stage 3 lymphoma cancer. She went through both chemo and radiation at the same time. There was little hope of remission, but after seven months of aggressive treatment, Lucrecia is cancer-free.

The advocates at Invisible People give us more background in their post Cancer Survivor and Homeless Veteran Living in a Tent in LA

Sadly, because of being tired and missing work, the cancer treatment caused Lucrecia to lose her job. She then moved in with her parents, but because there were too many people in the apartment not on the lease, Lucrecia left her children with her parents and ended up homeless.

When Lucrecia became homeless, she also started using meth and quickly became a drug addict. Meth is the perfect drug for homelessness. Going to sleep on the streets is dangerous, and meth will keep a person up all night. Meth gives the energy needed to carry water and walk for miles for food. Because cancer treatment killed Lucrecia’s immune system and all of her strength, methamphetamine became her life so she could function on the streets.

Lucrecia is now drug-free. She still smokes weed, but pretty much everyone smokes weed anymore. For a cancer survivor, Marijuana has many benefits.

Lucrecia is in contact with her parents and plans to go back home soon. Lucrecia is trying to do everything right. After many years on the streets, it’s a process of adapting back.

Lucrecia shares openly about how the street people you know become family just like any community. She shares about the dangers of homelessness and how one of her closest friends died in his tent.

Lucrecia also shares about the growing criminalization of homelessness. Police have harassed her and taken everything she owns several times. Community action groups like Ktown for All do the best they can at replacing tents and sleeping bags, but Los Angeles runs over 40 homeless sweeps every day. The scale homeless people are being displaced is massive, and homeless sweeps do nothing to help end homelessness.

Your voice can help end homelessness. If we do not fix the affordable housing crisis, homelessness will continue to get worse. Click here to tweet, email, call, or Facebook your federal and state legislators to tell them ending homelessness and creating more affordable housing is a priority to you.

Why Are Veterans Homeless in the U.S.?

In another post, Why Are Veterans Homeless in the US? Invisible People give us a quick overview.

Veterans are often faced with many obstacles when they return to civilian life that put them at risk for homelessness including difficulties finding affordable housing and earning a livable income. Many of homeless veterans suffer from mental health challenges, drug and/or alcohol abuse, or co-occurring disorders, the most frequent of which is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to experiences before and during their service. According to a Pentagon report, the rate of sexual assault within the military has quadrupled since 2006.

To prevent veterans from experiencing homelessness, coordinated efforts providing housing, basic health care needs, and mental health counseling are necessary. Job training and placement assistance is also crucial to veterans who can be at a disadvantage when competing for employment when their military occupations and training are not transferable to the civilian workforce.