Commentary: They were homeless, but turned their lives around. Here's how they did it
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Set us as preferred About two years ago, Michael Mata boarded a bus at 5 a.m.near the shelter where he was living, on the northern edge of South Los Angeles.
He was determined to bring an end to years of sporadic homelessness and a string of dead-end jobs.A shelter mate had advised him to arrive early at Chrysalis, a nonprofit that helps people figure out how to find work and rebuild their lives.A line forms early, Mata had been told, and they can only take in so many people each day.“I got here at 5:30,” said Mata, who was first in line.That day, Mata took two of the four required orientation classes.
Two days later, he took the other two.When I met him Wednesday, Mata was driving a van into the parking lot at Chrysalis headquarters.
He’s a road crew supervisor, with six people under him.They were hot and sweaty from a day of picking up litter on roads and highways, working with Caltrans in the Glendale area.For the last several months, Mata has been living in his own apartment.The mayoral election will be held in three weeks, with Mayor Karen Bass and challenger Councilmember Nithya Raman touting their records on homelessness and each insisting she can do better than her opponent.I had reached out to Chrysalis Chief Executive Mark Loranger with a pitch:Although one person’s recovery is not necessarily a road map for others, let’s hear from some formerly homeless people willing to share stories about how they managed to break the cycle.Loranger and his staff suggested I meet with Mata, 43; Marshall May, 58; Elyse Moya, 41; and Nicole Bastiany, 52.*People end up homeless for any number of reasons.
A lost job.Domestic abuse.
A mental illness.An addiction.
A financial setback.A criminal record.
The cost of housing.All of the above.“People come into the program voluntarily,” Loranger said.
“They’ve been ...