CommentsDEEGAN ON LA-In the dark before the dawn, on the grimy streets of Skid Row, a small group of homeless men and women and a Superior Court judge meet in a unique everyone-is-equal-here relationship. No other elected official has gone to the same extreme that Judge Craig Mitchell (photo above, center) has by reaching out to a cohort of down and out homeless men and women, personally investing his time, compassion and hard work on behalf of people who many wish were invisible and often treat that way.
The judge and his team are there to run -- out of skid row and away from a lifestyle of drug addiction and alcohol abuse. They are running into a world where they can learn values and behaviors to strengthen their lives by identifying and achieving positive goals and developing a commitment to give back to others.
They call themselves the Skid Row Running Club founded by Judge Mitchell in 2012 to provide a running program for that community. The goals are lofty, but Mitchell has seen nearly 100 men and women come through the club and he believes they will stay clean at a higher rate than the homeless population at large.
Recidivism, slipping back to reoffend, is a concern for most sentencing judges like Mitchell who hope not to see such behavior---in this case relapsing into drugs and alcohol. It’s a risk, but the success rate of the Skid Row Running Club sustains Mitchell’s belief that he’s making lasting and positive impact. Some of his success can be attributed to the mentor and mentee relationship he creates with his runners. He believes in them, and they respond to his direction and leadership.
Together, they form an unlikely but steely bond, as is pointed out in a documentary film called “Skid Row Marathon” that was just made and will premiere at the LA Film Festival this week (ArcLight Santa Monica 8, June 17, 2017 at 12 p.m.)
We rarely hear about homeless success stories, so when a filmmaker followed the judge and his “Skid Row Running Club” it's worth paying attention. This judge and these men and women may have created a template for anyone who wants to do something positive to address the problem of homelessness in our city. Personal interaction, compassion and discipline appear to be the keys to success for this program that is funded on a budget as tenuous as a running shoe lace. And it’s not just throwing money at the homeless issue; it’s not politicos announcing programs for the homeless from the steps of City Hall.
Los Angeles is full of homeless people. We see them daily, sheltering in place on streets across the city. We hear lots from elected officials about their plans and programs for the homeless. But two big setbacks have just become public: the number of homeless has increased, and the housing they were going to occupy is not coming to fruition quickly enough, despite available funding from a recent ballot measure.
Politicos reacted with alarm to the report released a few weeks ago by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority that said Los Angeles County’s homeless population has soared 23% over last year, and the City’s homeless count was up 20%. Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn called the news “staggering,” and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said, “There's no sugarcoating the bad news.” In its report, the Homeless Services Authority identified “economic stress on renters” as one of the culprits for the increasing number of homeless.
This helps make what Judge Mitchell does with his running club even more laudable. It’s just him and his cohort: mentor and mentees. No politics, no big money and big expectations, no grand solution to homelessness: just one-on-one connections between a concerned citizen (who could be any one of us) and homeless people trying to get better. It’s an example for the rest of us: every individual can be a Judge Mitchell.
In the privacy of chambers, when a judge dons his robe, he or she may see a red lining not visible to anyone in the courtroom. A robe that is lined like this (and not all are) reminds judges that their robes serve as a symbol. The black is for justice and the red, which they see as they put on the robe, is for mercy. Judge Mitchell is obviously seeing lots of red these days as he encourages his mentees to run into their golden future.
(Tim Deegan is a long-time resident and community leader in the Miracle Mile, who has served as board chair at the Mid City West Community Council and on the board of the Miracle Mile Civic Coalition. Tim can be reached at [email protected].) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
-cw
