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Homeless in Griffith Park
Summer 2008
Last summer, George
Abrahams (Current Vice President of BCNA and a founder)
along with Fran Reichenbach (another founder) followed a
trail off Beachwood Canyon just inside the area that leads
up to Sunset Ranch. Here's what they found and what they did
about it - in one day.
George and Fran follow a
long trail from Beachwood Canyon in the heat of the day.
This is not the first homeless encampment they have cleared
but it's the first one in Beachwood Canyon!
This is the south side of
the campsite the way it appeared before the clearing
commenced.
This is the north side of
the campsite before the work started. By all appearances,
this site had been abandoned months prior to the discovery.
A forensic search of the items resulted in a name and some
e-mail addresses. All efforts to locate the former "tenant"
to return documents and valuables proved fruitless. Sadly, a
crack pipe was found and a bag of charcoal briquettes -
unused (thankfully). It appeared that this person was
attempting to find and keep employment. It is the BCNA
policy to try to locate "tenants" in order to return their
property and refer them to helpful programs.
The site was cleared of
all contents and the brush was taken down. The graded pad
was uprooted and turned back into a steep slope so that no
campers could use it. There is no trace of this campsite
today.
It took many long trips
carrying bags and containers of trash. If you look real
closely (click on photo to enlarge), you'll see George
standing in the background. He's standing on Beachwood Drive
- this area was hidden by overgrowth. The Los Angeles Fire
Department had a crew out to the location doing a routine
cleanup of the dry brush on the Beachwood roadside a couple
of days later. George asked them to take down the big
overgrown bush that served as the opening to this trail.
Before the encampment was discovered, they found evidence of
sexual escapades right on the other side of that big bush.
Now there's no place for anyone to hide. We're just a bit
safer as a result.
If you happen to see
evidence of homeless encamping in our hillsides, please let
us know right away:
BeachwoodCanyon@sbcglobal.net Please don't
approach the campsite alone. A call is always made to the
senior lead officer prior to approaching so that they know
what we're doing and where. Stay safe! |
