- [Mark] Arien.
- Yes?
- [Mark] Great seeing you.
- It's good seeing you too.
- [Mark] I hate that you're still homeless.
- Me too.
- [Mark] When I walked up, you said that
you're a professional homeless now.
- Yes.
- [Mark] Now explain that.
- Meaning I can hold it together while being on the ground.
- [Mark] Now, this is your third Invisible People interview.
- Yes it is.
- [Mark] Now last two times I just ran into you
walking down the street, organically,
but we've connected on Facebook and stayed in touch.
Although I love seeing you, you're adorable ...
- Thank you, I love seeing you too!
- [Mark] I hate that you're the third interview,
that you're still out here.
- I hate it too.
- [Mark] Tell me about homelessness.
- Homelessness is rough.
I get harassed by police a lot.
You know, I can't set my tent up at five o'clock
even if it's freezing and I'm shivering to the bone.
I'm scared of getting pneumonia.
I had a friend that, that wife had died out here
due to pneumonia from being out in the cold.
And when I set my tent up, it was just last week,
I set my tent up at five; it was freezing.
And the cops just rolled up and ticketed me
and grabbed me up and forced me into handcuffs,
just to give me a ticket.
Because I didn't understand why I was in the wrong
to put my tent up if it was freezing.
The setup here is between nine and six, that's the law.
So I was breaking the law by trying to warm myself up.
- [Mark] I can't imagine what you go through.
In your first interview you were very candid
about how women are harassed out here.
- Oh yes I'm harassed all the time.
I'm fearful for my life all the time.
I stay in a tent so that people think that
there's a possibility there's a guy in there!
So nobody's going to try to, you know, mess with me.
And when I'm out here, especially by myself, I'm scared.
You know, I always have to have somebody close by,
just in case of an emergency, you know.
- [Mark] And most if not all women have been raped out here.
- Oh yes I've been, my third day here, I was raped.
And it was because I was trying
to stay in an abandoned apartment,
because I didn't want to sleep out on the streets,
and I was cornered, and I tried to escape, and you know ...
You know the story! (sighs)
- [Mark] Sadly. - Yeah.
- [Mark] That's why it bothers me that in all this time
Los Angeles still hasn't gotten you,
and tens of thousands others, the support you need.
- Well I don't understand; this is a billion-dollar city.
If they even just built a recreational center
or bought a lot just to have, like, you know ...
There's these tiny houses you could build
for like, less than $1,000,
because it's made out of biodegradable material.
And it wouldn't be hard
for somebody with billions of dollars
to easily buy out a lot and put something there.
- [Mark] Make a safe place for you.
- Yeah.
- [Mark] The problem is here, is now that, you know,
Los Angeles, and Los Angeles County,
has funding for Measure H and Prop HHH,
it's lack of public support.
So, the public, you know, said they want to pay,
they'll pay to have homeless people removed
but they don't want them anywhere near where they are.
- So they want us to die?
That's the only logic that I can come to, like all the time,
there are times when I was holding my sign,
that I had people tell me that I was trash,
that I needed to be cleaned up off the streets.
I miss out on my kids, I miss out on everything,
and my case is going slow.
Everything's moving slow for me
because of the lack of help.
I tried reaching out: I went to GR; I've gone to LA County.
LA County has come to me, since the last video--
- [Mark] Yeah, the last video,
the county reached out to you ...
- Yes.
- [Mark] And you got on a housing wait list ...
- Yep.
- [Mark] And here it's October that happened, and ...
- And I'm still on the wait list and ...
- [Mark] So they gave you some clothes and some hygiene,
which is great.
- They gave me clothes, yep.
- [Mark] And it's not, the county just doesn't have housing.
- No, they don't.
And the housing that they do have, you know,
it's like they're forcing people to go to Skid Row.
And to me Skid Row is place that people go
when they want to die.
And, you know, I've seen a lot of stuff,
I walked through Skid Row a few times.
I stayed out there for one night before,
and I wouldn't recommend that for anybody.
- [Mark] I love Skid Row;
I have a new understanding of it now.
But I have to say, when I was homeless in Hollywood,
I think not going to Skid Row saved my life.
- That's exactly what I mean.
- [Mark] Back to the public support, most people believe,
you know, you're homeless here by choice (Arien sighs),
and it's as easy as getting a job.
And you work when you can ...
- I've had multiple jobs out here.
I just worked Coachella last summer doing security.
I have my guard card; that was $175 that I had to save,
just for that.
There's no logic to think that ...
To think that somebody would choose
to sleep by piss and shit; there's no logic.
It's not a choice; sometimes
you have everything taken away from you,
sometimes the world just strips you
like, ass naked in the street,
and you don't know what to do, except for try to survive,
and that's exactly what I'm doing right now,
I'm just trying to survive.
I do my hair; I do my makeup; I take care of myself
because I love myself, and even if people think I'm trash
or think that I should die, or think because I'm homeless
that I'm not productive for society,
or things like that, you know, it's really sick.
You know, when you think about medieval times, right?
And they had the kings and the queens
and they would walk past beggars asking for food
while they're dying of things in the streets ...
You know, you watch those movies
and you're looking at the kings and queens
like they're wrong, but here
you do it to homeless people every day
that you walk past them and think,
"Oh, well, this is what you deserve."
Well if this is what I deserve,
well what does that say about you?
- [Mark] Wow.
- It hurts, it hurts me to the core.
I've felt so, so suicidal;
I've tried to kill myself multiple times.
So if you want me dead, trust me,
at one point I really wanted myself dead.
- [Mark] So you know, that comes up with,
because, every time we've connected,
you've been positive but you really have to fight
to keep a smile out here.
- Yes I do.
I have to fight every day to smile;
every day is a struggle for me,
not to go, what's the word?
Batshit crazy! (laughs)
You know, people that are out here,
that they do drugs and stuff like that,
when I was doing drugs in my past, you know,
I was doing it because I was trying to kill myself,
I was trying to numb my pain,
I was trying to escape my reality.
Any reality was better than facing the world
that tells you because you don't have any money
that you are worthless.
And because you don't have a house,
or a car, you are worthless.
This world is full of gold-diggers
that only care about what's in my pocketbook.
And it's heartbreaking, so when I do smile,
it's because I'm strong.
When I do wake up every day, and I'm optimistic,
and I'm like, "This could be the day!"
It's because that's what I choose to keep my mentality at
so I don't go back to wanting to kill myself
and to depression.
- [Mark] We've got to get you off the streets.
We've got to get you off the streets.
- Oh, I want off the streets!
- [Mark] So, for those of you listening to me,
this video, please share it with whoever you know,
if you're connected with anybody that works
in homeless services in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County,
please ...
The thing is, there's tens of thousands
of other Ariens out here ...
- There's a lot!
- [Mark] But let's start with this Arien right now,
and get her off the streets.
- I really wish that would work. (laughs)
- [Mark] Well speaking of wishes,
by now you know my ending question! (laughs)
- Yes, "If I had three wishes ..."
- [Mark] If you had three wishes, what would they be?
- One, to get into some kind of like, shelter or program
or something that'll stabilize me to finish my case.
My second wish would be that the world
would open up their heart to the homeless people
and realize that kicking somebody while they're down
and making them want to kill themselves
doesn't make you any different than Darth Vader,
doesn't make you any different than any villain in any movie
that you yourself when you go to a movie
you talk crap about, but here you are doing the same thing.
You know, I wish ...
My third wish is that, you know,
that, just to be happy.
I just want to smile and it feel real, you know?
Not smile because, you know, I'm strong,
but smile because I'm happy.
Where I don't have to be strong anymore.
- [Mark] Well thank you very much for talking to me.
- No problem.
(light indie rock)