- [Interviewer] Joanna.
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] We're alongside, this is what freeway?
This is 101?
- Yes.
Yes.
- [Interviewer] And you're living here?
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] And you've lived here for two years?
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] Outside by the 101 freeway.
Tell me about it.
- It's, I don't know.
It's not necessary.
I don't know.
I don't know what to say.
There's pieces on that one.
- [Interviewer] Yeah.
How do you survive out here?
- By living it day by day. (chuckling)
- [Interviewer] You were telling me you're recycling.
- Well, we started a nonprofit being homeless.
It's called Recycling Junk Kings.
We just recycle anything from wood to gold.
Anything that we find in the trash,
we basically, we just recycle it or refurbish it,
and then we reuse it, and it's not in the trash anymore,
pretty much. - [Interviewer] So now,
when you say non-profit,
are you gonna file for a 501(c)(3), or it's-
- We actually did already.
- [Interviewer] Did you really?
- Yes. (chuckling)
- [Interviewer] Good for you.
- Yeah, we actually did start a nonprofit, actual.
Being homeless,
I actually did that. - [Interviewer] Wow.
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] Wow.
So did you get your 501(c)3 yet, or is it in the process?
- No, we're actually tax exempt.
- [Interviewer] Really?
- Yeah, we have an EIN number and everything.
- [Interviewer] Awesome.
I'm impressed.
That is really great.
Oh, wow.
So we should tell people,
you reached out to me, you emailed me.
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] And you asked for me to come down
because Caltrans, which is what governs the freeways.
- Yeah, state property.
- [Interviewer] Yeah.
- Pretty much.
- [Interviewer] Is threatening you, or-
Go.
- They're messing us over.
They're tearing everything apart.
We were actually over there on the other side
and we had built, same thing, we built our own stuff.
And so where we were at is a little triangle
that's part of the building that's next door,
which is private property, right?
Now, to my knowledge,
Caltrans only has jurisdiction for state property,
right? - [Interviewer] Right.
- Now, why is it that they came one day
and they tore everything down?
Everything, our spot, everything we had,
our belongings, everything.
Now, why did they do that?
How could they do that if it's private property?
Well, they basically told us that, too bad for us.
Like, what are we gonna do about it anyway, pretty much.
Now mind you, we do have the non-profit as well
under our names, yet we got no say so by anything.
We've just had to let it happen for some reason.
Now we came to this side over here
and they still tore everything down once again
and took everything.
And they didn't leave us no actual note or nothing.
They didn't leave us with anything
or any kind of information to go on ahead
and grab our stuff back or anything.
We had no chance of recovering anything,
which from what I know is not supposed to happen, right?
- [Interviewer] So Caltrans came in, swept, took everything.
Now, and you guys moved over here
and they're threatening to do it again?
- Yeah, pretty much.
- [Interviewer] And in the meantime,
Urban Alchemy, which does outreach services,
have come and made promises to you and never followed up?
- Yeah, pretty much.
They have came over here, took down everybody's names,
their information and everything.
They said that they were gonna come back and do a follow-up.
They never did.
And if they did, they came back a few days later
just to hand out a water bottle, and that was it, they left.
They didn't tell us anything about anything else.
And they basically told my boyfriend as well that,
you know the reason why you guys are not getting any help
is because you guys are doing too good.
Like, what the hell is that supposed to mean?
We're doing too good
so that's why we're not getting any kind of help?
That's how we gotta deal with all this stuff
that's happening to us?
For what reason?
I mean, there's no justification
for anything that's being done, really.
- [Interviewer] So now you ended up homeless.
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] You had some family issues.
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] And then you went and lived with a couple.
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] And the woman left,
and then the guy tried to put you out on the streets.
- Yeah, like walk the streets.
And I said, no.
I had my son with me as well, and so I said no.
And he wanted to force me to do so and I said, no.
So, I mean, I had to leave.
- [Interviewer] And that is rough
for a vulnerable young girl.
I mean, you don't have many choices,
so your son is with your mom now.
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] And you're living out here.
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] And what would you want people,
that the people that are driving by,
there's probably 100 cars a minute driving by up there,
what would you want them to know
about the people in the tents
they see as they're driving by?
- As far as us down here?
- [Interviewer] Well, yeah, just homeless people.
- We're not all the same.
We're not all the same.
Everybody thinks that we're disrespectful,
we're rude, or we're messy.
We try not to be, as far as we go.
We don't try to be like that.
We try to help out.
They should take an opportunity
to give other people to tell their stories, you know?
Not everybody's the same.
Everybody goes through their own stuff.
Just takes like a minute or so
just to get to know that person
and then you'll find out a few things
that you never knew about.
That could actually happen. (chuckling)
- [Interviewer] There's real people in the tents.
Good people, like you. - Pretty much.
- [Interviewer] Just trying to survive.
- Pretty much.
- [Interviewer] So you go into housing,
but you're not gonna go into any program.
- No.
- [Interviewer] And I don't blame you.
- No shelters, none of that, no.
- [Interviewer] 'Cause the shelters are-
- They're messed up anyway.
- [Interviewer] Yeah.
- They think it's bad out here?
Shelters is even worse.
We're all enclosed, you know?
So, I mean, I don't know.
- [Interviewer] And you've got a community here.
There's a gentleman that walked by that was a former Marine,
he topped and talked for a while.
He seemed very nice.
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] You got your dogs.
- Yep.
I sure do.
- [Interviewer] Yep.
(Joanna chuckling)
And you're very nice and respectful.
You emailed me and asked me to come here
because of Caltrans doing the sweep.
- Yeah, it's just not fair.
It's unfair.
Like, my boyfriend, he really tries his hardest
to keep everybody at a good state of mind with us,
and so for someone to just feel like
they can just do whatever they want to because they can
and we got no say so, it's kind of like, it's not cool.
It's not cool.
- [Interviewer] Well, there's no place for you to go.
- Pretty much.
- [Interviewer] And they say they're sending out
engagement teams, I think they call 'em,
which is the Urban Alchemy folks,
but they're not offering you a place.
- No.
- [Interviewer] And then they come and move you, right,
or sweep. - Pretty much.
- [Interviewer] If they were giving you support
to help you get out of homelessness, okay, great.
But you've been here,
you told me five years total, two years here.
That's a long time.
- Yeah, I've been out here since I was 20, 21.
- [Interviewer] Wow, that's a long time.
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] What's your future like?
- Well, hopefully keeping the business going.
Yeah, just making something out of it.
The business was created because of him,
that's what he's always talked about,
so I tried to make it come real.
So, I mean, I made it happen, so hopefully.
- [Interviewer] So now being a non-profit,
you got a PO box or something?
- Not yet.
- [Interviewer] Not yet?
- Not yet.
- [Interviewer] Yeah, so is there a way
that people can make donations to you?
- Sure.
Sure, I mean.
- [Interviewer] Well, how do they go about doing that?
- They can drop on by over here. (laughing)
- [Interviewer] I won't give out your address.
Yeah, I wouldn't do that.
- I'm just kidding.
- [Interviewer] Well, you can email me.
If you email me,
I'll put the information below in the description.
Even if it takes me a little while to email it, right?
But you had your 501(c)3 mailed someplace, and if you're-
- Oh, well, yeah, I did.
We have a mailing address, we just don't have a PO box.
- [Interviewer] Okay.
- Same thing, though, I guess.
- [Interviewer] I don't know if you have a PayPal,
or a GoFundMe or something,
but I know people watching this will wanna help you.
Yeah, I probably should have asked (chuckling).
What's the address in your nonprofit?
And again, I don't know if it's your mom's or what,
I just figured you were renting something,
'cause that's what I did when I was on the streets,
I rented a PO box, so I apologize for assuming that.
(Joanna chuckling)
But email me, 'cause you know the email,
how people can donate,
and I'd be happy to add to the description
so people can help you out.
- Okay.
- [Interviewer] Anything else you'd like to add?
- One love, that's all I gotta say.
One love.
- [Interviewer] If you had three wishes, what would they be?
- To be happy, world peace.
Just world peace, pretty much,
'cause with world peace, everyone's gonna be happy,
everybody's gonna be peaceful, everybody's gonna get along.
There's nothing else you can ask for.
Who wouldn't want anybody to be happy?
I want everybody in this world to be happy.
That's all I can say.
- [Interviewer] Be happy.
- Be happy, that's it.
- [Interviewer] Well, you are happy.
That's the one thing- (Joanna chuckling)
When I showed up and I yelled your name
and you popped out of your tent,
I was like, oh my gosh, she's all positive and happy.
- (chuckling) I try to be.
I try to be. - [Interviewer] That's great.
Well, you stay safe out here.
- Thank you, you too.
- [Interviewer] Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, too.
(upbeat music)
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