More LA Latinos falling into homelessness, shaking communities in ‘a moment of crisis’
LOS ANGELES — Miguel Meneses and his wife were struggling to get by when the pandemic hit. They lost their rent-controlled apartment in Boyle Heights and moved with their three children to a rental house in Pomona that cost four times as much.
In summer 2020, Meneses, an Uber driver, fell ill with long COVID symptoms and couldn’t work for months. As the pandemic lurched on, his wife, Sandra Torres, lost the last of the eight cleaning service clients she had left.
“It was all downhill from there,” said Meneses, 49, in an interview, as Torres, 45, teared up.
Unaware of the eviction protections and financial programs available, the couple borrowed $12,000 from family and friends. In February, broke and out of favors, they moved into a van along an industrial street off Olympic Boulevard in Boyle Heights.
The family’s descent into homelessness reflects a growing problem in Los Angeles County, where in the last two years homelessness among Latinos has outpaced other demographic groups as COVID-19 and the housing shortage hammered the working class.
Latinos have long relied on social ties, squeezing into crowded spaces and sharing the burden of unaffordable rents, to avoid joining L.A.’s ever-swelling homeless population. But rising rents — and incomes that are not commensurate — have made it increasingly difficult for low-income Latinos to keep roofs over their heads.
“The folks that are in the
