Meet Stephany Campos of Homeless Health Care Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephany Campos.

Stephany, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was a first-generation college student and first in my family to obtain an advanced degree. I graduated with my MPA in 2015 and had moved to Los Angeles the year prior. I was living on my own for the first time.

And for the first time, I saw the face of homelessness. Having grown up in a quiet suburban town, I was never exposed to the daily reality so many faces. I met Stephanie in 2014 when I moved into my first apartment. She lived in her car in the lot where I parked every day. That had been her “home” for years.

And so began my first time really getting to know someone who does not have a roof over her head. I would buy her food from time to time and give her holiday gifts. During this time, I was also learning about “wicked problems” in my graduate studies. These are problems society often faces that are hard to resolve for various reasons. Through my studies, I learned about Homeless Health Care Los Angeles (HHCLA) and the work they do. I knew I wanted to be involved on a direct level.

Shortly after I graduated, I started working at HHCLA and was given opportunities to immersive myself with grassroots efforts. One such effort was being part of an audit team to track the accessibility of public toilets in the Downtown area known as Skid Row.

And the findings were daunting, among them included:
• There are only nine public toilets available for 1,777 unsheltered homeless people on Skid Row.
• Skid Row is short of the United Nations sanitation standard by 164 public toilets.

The “No Place To Go” report was released in June 2017 and unsurprisingly, garnered a lot of attention, even overseas. Two months later, there was a Hepatitis A outbreak in Skid Row, which is directly correlated with the lack of hygiene access. The report demonstrated the public health crisis Angelinos have allowed to exist in our very community for decades. One of our recommendations in the report highlighted the need for a hygiene center that is always open. By 2018, the ReFresh Spot came to fruition.

The ReFresh Spot is a community-driven project that provides the Skid Row community access to a restroom, shower, and laundry facility with supportive services. It is a public facility open to anyone with no discrimination for entry and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The site offers a place for people to have their basic needs met with dignity.

I consider myself fortunate enough to not only have been involved with the report and the ReFresh Spot – I am actually the director of this unique project out of the Mayor’s office. On any given day, we greet 600 guests that enter the site to access the much-needed resources being offered. Currently, the audit team from the original report is regrouping to release a follow-up report in 2019. We know we have a long way to go, with a lot of work ahead of us, and we remain committed to finding lasting solutions.

Back to Stephanie – One day, after returning home from a short trip, I was informed Stephanie had been forcibly removed from the parking lot, her car towed. I heard she put up a good fight and I was deeply saddened by the news. Months later, I thought I saw Stephanie sitting outside of a church asking for money. I walked closer only to realize it wasn’t her. I haven’t seen or heard from her in years and continue to wonder where she is today, knowing we, as a society, failed her.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The real struggle I see on a daily basis is the stigma our society has around drug use and homelessness in general, in addition to the NIMBY (not in my back yard) mentality that has halted or altogether stopped countless development projects. For example, in my neighborhood of Koreatown, the construction of a new shelter was approved in 2018.

This was the first in a series that each council district had committed to building in their communities. Unfortunately, the project received so much pushback, even protests, it was scrapped altogether. It is a sad state of affairs when people would rather see people living on the streets than given shelter, should – said shelter, be on their block.

Homeless Health Care Los Angeles – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am the Executive Administrator for HHCLA. I have a unique and blended role here: I work closely with the Executive Director, I am the director of the ReFresh Spot, the media contact for the agency.

I am involved with various community-based advocacy/legislative groups, and support development efforts. I also work closely with our diverse and influential Board of Directors and contribute to agency-wide strategic planning.

My various roles reflect my commitment to HHCLA and belief in its mission of providing innovative strategies for reducing the impact of homelessness in the communities of LA County. HHCLA’s perpetual dedication to harm reduction principles sets itself apart from other providers.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success can be defined in so many ways. Is success housing over 400 people in permanent supportive units with a 98% retention rate each year? Is it serving 600 people a day and providing over 2,000 showers a month at ReFresh Spot?

Perhaps it is reversing an overdose using a medication called naloxone? Both our clients and staff have reversed hundreds of overdoses in the last few years and have directly saved lives. Maybe success is when one of our clients who injects substances comes to us and says “I want to stop” or asks “how can I get help decreasing my heroin use?”

Simply walking through our doors is success. Coming in to receive sterile syringes and safer injection supplies is success. Success is any positive change, and we acknowledge our clients’ successes every day.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1282 W. 2nd St. Los Angeles, CA 90026 main site
  2330 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90057
  512 E. 4th St. Los Angeles, CA 90013 (Center for Harm Reduction)
  557 Crocker St. Los Angeles, CA 90013 (ReFresh Spot)
• Website: www.hhcla.org
• Phone: 213-744-0724
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hhcla/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HomelessHealthCareLosAngeles/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHHCLA

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