When it comes to the needy in Los Angeles ignorance and assumptions can be a dangerous combination. I say this not to come down on anyone but rather out of personal experience. I came in ignorant of how great the need really was and I assumed that I knew what people here really needed but God in is his mercy has shown me how wrong I was. I think a common mistake of a lot of people is they assume that they can come into the projects, maybe build some houses, donate a little bit of money, and then the problem will get better. Its true there is a place for building houses and donating money and people should continue to be encouraged to do these things, but its important for people to take a look at what it is the people here really need. If all I ever do is donate a little money and maybe build a house then maybe someone gets to eat for a week and their house looks good for a couple years but then what? Also these things don't address the problem such as teens dropping out of school, disrespect for authority, and gang violence.
I've had the eye opening experience of spending the last three weeks at Nickerson Gardens in Watts, California, the largest public housing development west of the mississippi. Here death is very real and gang violence is just how things are. It's been here that I have come to realize more and more how uninformed I am. A large portion of how I felt about poverty in LA is that people here were simply just not willing to work hard enough to get themselves out of the projects and although that may be true in some cases, thats not what I have seen as a whole. Many of the young boys at Nickerson don't have father figures in their life and as a result they don't understand what it truly means to be a man. To them being a man is being hard and disrespecting both women and authority. Without a father in their lives, these boys are looking for love and guidance from somewhere and they find it from gangs. So as a result a lot of them will choose to drop out of school because school doesn't provide much for them while gangs provide them with women, drugs, money, and new clothes. A couple kids at Nickerson have told me they are already part of a mob (which is a subpart of a gang and in the case of people at Nickerson a subpart of the Bloods) already at the ages of 11 and 12. One kid said he would like to get out of the projects but doesn't want to leave his mom. These are the things that these kids already have to deal with a young age. They are faced with choices that no kid should ever have to make and without guidance how can we expect them to make the right one?
I've come to realize through these kids that the solution isn't just throwing money and projects at the problem but rather its first and foremost the gospel accompanied with investment in their lives. The only thing that can change the culture is Christ and as Christians it is on us to show these kids that they can find true love in Christ and not in a gang. Yes it can be a very uncomfortable thing for us to do, but we are called to help the needy and no matter where we are there are always going to be people in need, so let us live for Christ by showing the greatest love the world has ever known.
Ryan