Trying to get rid of homelessness. First of all, I gotta come down here and figure out what the hecks goin on,

and figure out how the best way to help y'all out.

I'm going to try to figure out the best way to get y'all on your feet and

get y'all the opportunities y'all need to be getting.

That's what needs to be done because y'all been ignored down here. You can't be ignored.

What's happening man? What's happening?

Once the issue of homelessness came up,

and was brought to my attention, then you start seeing things that you have overlooked.

When I'm driving downtown or leaving the Staples Center Arena after a game,

Skid Row is literally a few blocks away.

It's not something that really registers. It's something that you just look over because

homelessness has been a part of our culture for so many years.

It's something that just kind of fades to the background without you

really driving by and really thinking about a person's story

of how did he get to this point

and what's keeping him there.

You know he went through fifteen programs.

When I first came to the program, I actually came through that gate right

there. I was distraught. I was broken.

I was suicidal. I was strung out. I had lost everything.

And I really felt hopeless.

At some point, the switch has to go off.

You can only help those who wanna help themselves.

But for Kenneth and some of the guys we met, they hit rock bottom

and it was like what am I doing with my life? I need help.

I didn't come from a bad family, a family where there was no father

or mother. I was really fortunate, so I had the best of everything.

But, because of bad decisions and a bad choice, for the last 30 years

I've been going in and out of programs. In and out of jail. In and out of prison.

One of my goals was to be one of the greatest horse trainers in the world.

I worked at some of the biggest thoroughbred ranches in California.

I had no vices. I didn't smoke. I didn't drink.

I was a health nut. I had a nice car.

I had a nice place. I had nice clothes. I could have been anything,

but in 1978, I was getting ready to take my trainer's test, and that's when I made the worst decision of my life

to smoke crack cocaine for the first time.

When he came back to the LA Mission, he was weighing about 135 pounds

really struggling with his addiction. To see what he's done with his life, how he

turned himself around and the kind of that shape he's in at 58.

To be honest with you. he's probably in better shape than I am right now.

I'm natural high right now, and I'm feeling good because I couldn't do this when I first got here.

I couldn't do none of this, and so ya, it's a personal achievement, a personal success.

The thing that jumped out at me of all of them, the word I use is determination and perseverance.

I get chills just talking about this because I was so broken.

I was distraught. I was suicidal. I had lost all hope. I didn't want to live.

And I came through that gate about 5:30 in the morning.

I walked through that gate, and I didn't really know what was going to happen.

I didn't know if I was going to stay. These are tears of joy right now

because of how I feel now. I was so broken.

Now I'm being put together. I'm being made whole again.

But when I came through those gates man, I was lost.

His story is one of self-reflection and how he was able to kind of step outside himself

and see what his life has become.

That being from having a very successful life to being rock bottom on Skid Row

and then, making that change.

So, his story to me is one of determination, and it's one of faith.

And now, I'm thinking about it. I'm reflecting back

on what it took to get me here. I'm just so grateful. I'm thankful.

I'm thankful for this place, this mission. It's given me my life back.

If we can just help one person to get them out of this mug in the meyer,

you're making the community safer.

It's our obligation. It's our duty, as human beings, to help these people.