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Bobby (Robert, Rob, and Bob are all fine too -- he's a chameleon) joined JLA Trust in 2024 as a client after receiving funds as the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that Venskus & Associates (in conjunction with the California Women's Law Center) helped bring against the non-profit Skid Row Housing Trust, now renamed Hart District Management. Skid Row Housing Trust, once touted as a national leader in homeless housing, controlled 29 deteriorating buildings in Downtown LA proponed to provide Section 8 housing for qualified Housing Authority recipients. A recent report has shown that they faced issues with unstable leadership and consistent financial problems. But their tenants took the brunt of that. When assessed, Bobby's building was found to have toxic mold, lead, asbestos, bed bugs, and many issues with shared restrooms.
When Bobby tried to get these issues addressed, he was brushed off, first by the landlord, and then by a series of government and non-profit organizations before he and his fellow tenants got the California Women's Law Center to take the case on. The process of knocking on his neighbors' doors and trying to get people signed up for a lawsuit has taught Bobby a lot about collective action. He's found that a lot of people don't want to help, and others that you don't expect to help end up helping a lot. He's watched neighbors turn their life around.
Before he was an activist, Bobby was a kid from Nevada, a night watchman, a waiter, a sous chef in training, an art history major who received a bachelor's degree from USC. Lately though, feels sometimes the idea of "skid row resident" is an albatross around his neck -- that people make assumptions based on the term. He was one of five plaintiffs of the lawsuit that joined JLA Trust as clients, so that they could keep their benefits and save and invest the money they received for use over time — rather than have to spend it all at once. Since joining, Bobby has been able to get a brand new computer, take his dog, Hercules, to the vet regularly, and take better care of his own health. In spite of the obstacles he still faces, he says he's in a better position than he's been in a long time. Which is good, because in spite of the money received from the lawsuit, some still haven't been moved to a different building that has not been condemned, forcing Bobby and a handful of senior men and women to continue to live in the same conditions. "But we are in a good place, and we are fighting against discrimination and apathy for other people with the help of organizations like JLA Trust - THANK YOU!" Bobby says.
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