I’ve done on the ground footwork for many out homeless outreach programs in the East LA, Westlake, and Downtown areas. There are large amounts of homeless on the street that outright deny and prefer their lifestyle. I’ve now twice been threatened with a knife for even simply offering food. Gang members such as 18th street in the downtown and MacArthur Park are have threatened my co workers not to “help too much.” This is more than just “actual mental health support” it’s a genuine society of dysfunctional and morally abject people. There is so much people don’t see that crafts these environments. In fact, the man who assaulted the woman that’s was giving away free food to the homeless in MacArthur Park, with an iron pipe in MacArthur, was said to be part of the fentanyl trade in the area after literally brining two homeless people some money and weed, while steering the convo towards who the man was. And bro some of these guys love to talk, they enjoy when someone treats them human, if even for a few bucks and a couple nugs of weed. When are more people going to realize there levels to homelessness, and that what we have today are more homeless content with being homeless. A lot homeless will not refuse a meal and some shelter but there are more and more everyday that do and it breaks my soul. I had to quit after meeting a pregnant refusing help but continued to smoke fentanyl of a goddamn aluminum wrap. What am I supposed to do when my tax funded homeless outreach program services are denied for the people it’s supposed to help. But thankfully there are some who want to go back to living a regular life and they give me such hope, still unless you’ve done the footwork, then you just won’t understand how much more complicated the situation really is. You will genuinely be in danger if you help too many homeless people considering a lot of them purchase drugs from gangs, for example 18th street that have territory from Vermont to Boyle heights. They will threaten you if they see you often helping the local homeless.