- [Interviewer] Well, Carissa,
tell me about yourself, what you're doing
out here, how old are you?
- I was actually put in foster care
since I was six.
Then I moved out of my foster parents' house at 18,
lived in this emancipation place
that freakin' treated you like a kid,
then I moved in with a foster sister.
I had to move out 'cause I had
my first son, who's three now.
He, me, and his dad were living
with a foster sister, and she was
letting people bring alcohol, drugs,
stuff like that in, so I moved out
of her house, went to my sister, Jackie's, house,
and she got my child and took him away.
Then I moved back in with his dad,
got my son taken away fully,
and then I moved away from my sister's house,
came out here to live with another foster sister
who lives in Santa Clarita, and then
I ended up here 'cause she kicked us out, two weeks.
What?
- What about me?
You gonna mention me?
You know, I'm in that story everywhere.
- Babe,
I'm the only one talking here.
You ain't even talking.
- [Jon] I will talk.
- [Interviewer] Well, we'll get you one at a time.
So, how long have you been out here?
- I've been out here for six months.
- [Interviewer] Six months.
And when I walked up, you told me you're pregnant.
- Yeah, I just found out two months ago.
- [Interviewer] So, you're out here living
out in the streets pregnant.
- Yeah, and I'm trying to get as much help as possible.
- [Jon] Just isn't working.
- [Interviewer] How do you survive?
- Going to OPCC, eating, going to Common Ground, eating,
trying to find every place I can to eat.
- [Jon] Well, you did.
- [Interviewer] If you don't mind me asking,
how old are you?
- I'm 25.
- [Interviewer] You're 25.
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] And do you see the rest of your family?
You said you had another son.
- Yeah, he's adopted.
I don't see him. - He's adopted.
So, do you plan on getting off the streets?
What do you-
- Yeah, we're hoping we can get
off the streets next month if one
of our friends talks to one of his hookups.
- [Jon] Hookups.
- Well, you know, lady that works there.
- [Interviewer] And your story,
what are you doing out here?
- I'm Jon, and I'm doing out here,
I was in foster care my whole life, too.
I came out here with my wife because her sister
said we could live with them, and it's just same situation.
We got put on the streets because
she kicked us out because her parents
doesn't want us living with her.
She doesn't think we're family or nothing like that no more,
so we're trying to get off the streets,
and it's not really working as easy.
It's too hard, no one is helping us, really.
There's only one person that helps us.
His name is...
I can't say his name 'cause he's a staff at OPCC.
I'm gonna keep confidentially.
But we're trying so hard.
I get an SSI check every month,
it still is hard as hell to get off the streets,
and it doesn't help being out in this city.
- [Interviewer] So, is there any prenatal care, or-
- Hardly.
If you don't have an ID or anything,
you ain't gonna get that care.
I'm on emergency Medi-Cal 'cause I don't have an ID.
And even then, I was told that'll last only so long,
so I don't even know if it's gonna last
through the whole entire pregnancy.
- [Interviewer] You're out here, you're pregnant,
you've been out here six months and there's no help.
That's what you're telling me.
- Yeah.
- [Jon] Yeah, pretty much.
- [Interviewer] I know there's some agencies
and some different people that walk through the park here.
Does anybody stop and talk to you?
Do they do anything?
- Well, we know that there's the...
I don't exactly remember what it's called, but they...
You're talking about the guys
that ride on the bikes, right?
- [Interviewer] I don't know, I've just
heard other people talk about it.
- [Jon] It's a church.
- Well, it's a church that offers you
a plane ticket home or a bus ticket home
if you wanna go back home.
- [Jon] Which, we don't have a home.
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] That'd be kinda funky.
Most people...
Wow, that's the first I've heard of that.
- We don't have a home.
I'm an orphan, pretty much my family
disowned me when I was a child for drugs.
So, I'm the one that did right,
and never done drugs in my life.
Never did anything wrong in my life,
and I'm out here on the streets.
Have no place to go, no home.
- [Interviewer] If you had three wishes,
what would they be?
- If I had three wishes, a place to live,
being able to raise this child without having,
without forcing to give it up,
and have a great life.
And help homeless.
- And you wanna help other homeless?
- Yeah.
- I do, too.
I have a whole plan I wanna take
to the City Council, but I gotta get everything
right before I can take it to City Council.
I don't think...
I believe the City Council might help,
but I don't know, they might be stubborn
and say, "No, that ain't gonna work" or something.
- Any dreams for you and your child?
- Just being able to keep him for life, him or her.