Julie Pilat hosts a series of conversations with inspiring, understated, change makers of the world who have influenced, inspired, or changed a life.
Every year at Thanksgiving canned food drives are arranged. Many people like to serve meals at the Union Rescue Mission DTLA. There are an estimated 60,000 homeless people in the Los Angeles area year round. It’s a number so large it can be hard to wrap your mind around. Recently, I met one man named Wendell Blassingame. He’s the City Councilman for Skid Row. He was once homeless. Now every day, for the past 17 years, he’s set a table up at San Julian Park to help people. Talking with Wendell has changed my life. Normally I record each episode of The Idea Fountain in my house as a fireside chat. This month we took the conversation down to Skid Row with sirens, loud music, and commotion for one of the most priceless episodes to date. I hope you get half as much as I did from Wendell in our conversation about Humanizing Homelessness.