Karen Bass on ‘Zombies’ Roaming LA: ‘Sleep on the Street ... & Tell Me Your Mental Health Is the Same as Before You Were Unhoused’

EXCERPT:

BASS: “And that's what I think he's doing. But I doubt that he knows and many Angelenos know that the fastest growing sector of the unhoused population are senior citizen women in their late 60s and 70s who have aged out of basically working in the service industry. No 401(k), no pension, maybe Social Security, but Social Security is not going to support you. So I would be reluctant to call an 80-year-old woman a zombie. I don't think that her drug abuse led to her being on the street. I think it was economic factors. And then what I say to everybody is sleep on the street for a couple of weeks and tell me that your mental health is the same as it was before you were unhoused.”