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Emotions play a big role in addressing homelessness because new homeless housing and services are often funded with public dollars, the public needs to feel like they're worth investing in. Around Los Angeles, where about 50,000 men and women live on the streets, some residents struggle to maintain their empathy. Anna Scott from member station KCRW has the story.
ANNA SCOTT, BYLINE: For the past few years, a man has been living in the carport of Shannon Peace's building near West Hollywood.
SHANNON PEACE: I would pull in, and he would be laying, like, right there...
SCOTT: She was a little uncomfortable at first, but eventually thought of him as an unofficial neighbor. Until one morning, she came downstairs...
PEACE: And his eyes were glazed over, and he was muttering to himself. And that was the point at which I went, OK, this is somebody who potentially has mental illness, potentially has a substance abuse problem.
SCOTT: She called the cops, but the man still sleeps in front of Peace's car on and off. She says the experience has made her more wary of homeless people in general.
PEACE: And it's not that I don't have empathy anymore. But when it comes to your own feelings of safety, need for boundaries, suddenly, it influences the way you view the entire issue. And unfortunately, it can influence the way you view individuals.
SCOTT: Two years ago, LA voters overwhelmingly passed Measure HHH, a city bond to fund homeless housing, which it's doing, but tens of thousands of men and women still sleep on the streets which means residents confront the crisis constantly. In some parts of the region, anger over perceived danger has led to explosive town halls, hateful social media posts and even one citizen patrol to monitor encampments. Other times, there's a quieter-but-still-uneasy coexistence like at this park in West LA.
FILIPE CALDERON: I haven't showered in about a month, so I don't feel good.
SCOTT: Filipe Calderon is one of about a half-dozen homeless men here today, and he's spread his belongings across a picnic table. He used to have a carpentry business, but he lost it to drinking.
CALDERON: Once you lose the job, you lose everything - the wife, even the kids.
SCOTT: He still drinks but wants to stop.
CALDERON: I'm going to try this year, you know. This is one of my goals. If I stop, I'm going to get back on my feet again.
SCOTT: It's easy to feel for the financial victim or the person who ended up homeless after a health crisis, harder to feel for someone you think is doing something wrong like the guy hiding a beer cooler near a busy playground.
ANN ENGLISH: That isn't the entire story of that person.
SCOTT: Ann English works at the nonprofit Corporation for Supportive Housing. She directs a program training formerly homeless men and women to share their stories at community events. She says it's about getting the public to see people who need help, rather than people to avoid.
ENGLISH: If they recognize someone who is having difficulties as someone that could be them, they are going to connect with that. And that is what moves people to action.
ERIC GARCETTI: Because a very complex problem didn't go away overnight doesn't mean that things aren't happening.
ENGLISH: LA Mayor Eric Garcetti says the city is housing more people than ever before, but it's not enough to keep up with all the people falling into homelessness. So the situation on the streets hasn't changed much. Still, Garcetti says, he does not see an empathy gap among LA residents.
GARCETTI: Every time I go to a volunteer event, there's more and more people. They still need a lot of help in their neighborhoods, but they're feeling that what they voted for is starting to come to fruition.
SCOTT: But what do you say to the people who say, OK, I voted for Measure HHH, but I thought that I would see a noticeable difference in my neighborhood faster, and now I'm frustrated?
GARCETTI: I would say I'm one of those people, too.
SCOTT: Garcetti says people should stay frustrated because impatience will lead to solutions faster than apathy. For NPR News, I'm Anna Scott in Los Angeles.