LOSING HOMES FOR THE HOMELESS END OF AN ERA AS DOME VILLAGE CLOSES.Byline: RACHEL URANGA Staff Writer Friends called him ``Black Magic,'' but by the time Chester Ward arrived at Dome Village Dome Village is a self-governing community of "people unable or [...] unwilling to live in traditional [homeless] shelters".[1] Located in Downtown Los Angeles, the complex consists of 20 geodesic domes and is inhabited by "up to 34 individuals and their family members". nine years ago, the magic had vanished. A convict and former drug user, Ward shuffled for months from motel to shelter. The downtown homeless encampment, which sits alongside a freeway on-ramp less than a half-mile from Staples Center This article has multiple issues: * Its neutrality is disputed. * It may contain original research or unverifiable claims. * It does not cite any references or sources. , was his last hope. Founded 13 years ago by homeless activist Ted Hayes Theodore "Ted" Hayes, Jr. is an American advocate for the homeless and an activist for the Republican Party. Hayes' activism began in January 1985, when Justiceville, a community of homeless people in Los Angeles, was founded. as an urban refuge for dozens of dispossessed men, women and children, Dome Village will close this week -- unable to afford a sevenfold sevenfold Adjective 1. having seven times as many or as much 2. composed of seven parts Adverb by seven times as many or as much Adj. 1. rent hike on the one-acre-plus parcel. With it will go a series of 300-square-foot fiberglass, igloo-shaped structures that have served as home for hundreds of homeless over the years. ``This was built to get homeless off the sidewalks,'' Hayes said Sunday, preparing for a Tuesday deadline to dismantle the village. ``It did.'' Built with a $250,000 grant from Arco in 1993, the Village was a national model for providing homeless with a dignified life through privacy, self-sufficiency and security, Hayes said. Desperate to keep the village running, Hayes will hold a press conference Tuesday asking Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. to buy this property or find a new site for the encampment. ``If (politicians) don't do anything there is going to be a more complex homeless problem,'' he said. Since opening, Hayes has raised money to pay the $2,500 monthly rent for the parking lot. Some of that has come from federal and local housing funds, he said. Until recently, the cracking asphalt lot dotted with trees was considered gritty and unattractive to developers. But its value has shot up as city leaders and developers started to pump millions of dollars into the area surrounding Staples Center, where an entertainment complex is expected to open next fall. Last year the owner of the lot, Milton Sidley, told Hayes he would have to hike his rent sevenfold to more than $18,300. ``The conditions have changed dramatically. We can't afford it anymore,'' Sidley said. On Sunday afternoon, a dozen or so volunteers were breaking down igloos filled with years of personal belongings personal belongings npl → efectos mpl personales -- a computer, lamps, pictures of heroes like Martin Luther King Jr. ``This,'' said Ward as he sat next to a tent where his wife -- also a former drug addict -- slept, ``kept me off the streets. I didn't go back to the old me. I turned my life around.'' rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3741 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Thomas Williams Thomas Williams may refer to:
- Shak. See also: Tear a dome house at L.A.'s Dome Village on Sunday morning Sunday Morning may refer to:
(2) John Hren hugs David Gibson during the demolition of Dome Village in Los Angeles on Sunday. Dome Village is being torn down after serving many homeless individuals over last 13 years. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer |
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