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HELPING PLACES CONTRIBUTORS

Individuals who are shaping Helping Places and are being of service to their communities.

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Shawn Smith - Founder

I have a few unique perspectives that allowed me to see a gap in the messaging and accountability from my elected officials who represent Los Angeles. I am a DTLA resident since 1990, been in recovery since 2002, a photography business owner, a Real Estate agent with Compass and the Founder of WatchDTLA, a downtown Los Angeles stakeholder advocacy neighborhood watch group. I hear Garcetti and our Council say that “The Homeless Crisis is a Housing Crisis”, and this is partially true, but I believe the main contributor to be addiction which creates mental illness and homelessness. I also see our County Supervisors who oversee the Department of Mental Health not addressing these crisis. County Supervisors such as Hilda Solis, are just as responsible as Garcetti is. I want to be of service to my communities by campaigning to spotlight this conversation and provide a directory of services in this form that did not exist until now, Helping Places. Please help me campaign to change the narrative and help end suffering. www.Facebook.com/RealShawnSmith