The Brief

Wearing shiny heels, a thrifted dress and a red rose in her hair, Deoujahne Darc belted out an original song on a small, makeshift stage in the heart of Los Angeles’ Skid Row.

“I saw the Lord in the face of a homeless man,” she sang, as the crowd swayed along.

The 26-year-old’s performance was one of many at what’s believed to be Skid Row’s first talent show on Saturday, featuring song and dance from a dozen homeless or formerly homeless performers.

The downtown LA neighborhood has one of the largest homeless encampments in the U.S., with approximately 45,000 homeless people this year. While Skid Row has become synonymous with abject poverty, the several dozen blocks of tents and debris is just a few blocks away from upscale restaurants, office skyscrapers and tourist destinations.null

Many of the performers sang or rapped songs they had written themselves. One performer read Scripture from the Bible that he was particularly moved by. Another covered a rap song to honor a friend who died from gun violence. While some passersby only stopped to grab food, others stayed to clap or sing along as the mood changed with a lively rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”

At one point, a fight broke out outside — as they often do on Skid Row — but the performers inside the church didn’t seem to notice. Right outside an entrance decorated with white-and-gold balloons, mounds of trash bags and cardboard boxes piled up on the street corner. A man slept through the commotion on a pile of cushions on the ground, hiding from the heat in the shade of the building.

Ladelle Handy performs during Skid Row’s inaugural talent show in downtown Los Angeles, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026.

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Jae C. Hong

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AP Photo

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Performing to honor the memory of his mother

Ladelle Handy, 45, opted to sing and dance to an original song. He spun and moved around on stage wearing a leather jacket over a sleek blazer, confidence emanating as the crowd cheered. His friends grooved along to the music and gave him a hug when he finished.

Handy grew up dancing in Chicago and moved to LA to pursue a music career 10 years ago, but has been homeless since he was evicted in February.

During his time on Skid Row, he slipped into drug use and depression, he said, and he wasn’t sure if he would even perform last weekend because things weren’t going well. But he was energized by the other performers and knew he had to get on stage.

His performance Saturday was dedicated to his mother, who was killed in Chicago in 2001, he said.

“Showcasing my gift that is a God-given talent, I know I have it,” Handy said. “I just wanted to make sure that the world remembers that I have it.”

Judges Teressa Percell, from left, Rev. Gary Carr and evangelist Geraldine Hughes share a laugh while talking to a contestant during Skid Row’s inaugural talent show in downtown Los Angeles, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026.

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Jae C. Hong

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AP Photo

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A pastor wanted to celebrate the talent on Skid Row

The talent show was organized by Rev. Gary Carr, who holds a weekly service in the area at Lifeway Church and saw that the residents of the community had more to offer than what Skid Row has come to represent.

“People give up on the disenfranchised, thinking that they’re worthless,” Carr said. “They have value, and through the talent show today you can see — it’s a life story there, it’s a struggle.”

Carr came up with the idea to highlight people’s talents with a sister church, which helped sponsor the event. They knew another local pastor’s weekly open mic was popular among the residents, and there would be many interested in performing.

They selected winners who would continue to meet regularly to develop their talents and put together a performance for Easter.

“This is an avenue to a new beginning,” Carr said.

A contestant who goes by the nickname Lil Bit performs during Skid Row’s inaugural talent show in downtown Los Angeles, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026.

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Jae C. Hong

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The 69-year-old said he had been homeless himself for nearly 30 years, spending time on the streets between spending time in prison. In 2009, he said he was called into the ministry.

While Carr became a pastor and worked at the Union Rescue Mission, one of the oldest shelters in the city, many of his friends remain homeless.

He reminds them, and others that come to him, that there’s still hope.

“These people really know me, they knew me when I’m at my worst,” he said. “And they know what the Lord has done in my life.”

Deoujahne Darc, center right, is congratulated by Bok Seo, a volunteer from a local Korean church, after winning first prize at Skid Row’s inaugural talent show in downtown Los Angeles, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026.

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Jae C. Hong

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AP Photo

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A performer hopes to touch the world with her song

For Darc, the Skid Row stage was a platform for her to share her music and inspire others who have gone through similar struggles.

She was born and raised in Los Angeles and ended up homeless in Oregon after a troubled relationship. With the help of a domestic violence shelter, she returned to California. She spent more than a year and a half on the streets and at a women’s shelter before she found stable housing.

“This is the realest I’ve seen people be, the good, the bad, the ugly,” Darc said.

Even the green dress she wore for her performance had significance — it was one of the first pieces of clothing she purchased with a friend at a Goodwill when she landed in a shelter in California. Finding housing and buying the dress felt like being a mermaid coming onto land from the ocean, she said.

“Like I just had to learn to walk again,” she said.

Darc has been singing since she was 4 years old and said she has self-produced seven albums.

She performed her original song, “Grace & Mercy,” to show others that everyone is deserving of such virtues as fellow humans, and she wants her voice to be able to heal others, she said.

“Instead of me speaking I’d rather just put it into the pen, put it into my music and give it to the world that way,” Darc said.

DeAndre Owens reacts as he watches a contestant perform during Skid Row’s inaugural talent show in downtown Los Angeles, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026.

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Jae C. Hong

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AP Photo

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Los Angeles officials expect construction of a fence around MacArthur Park will start in November and continue through fall 2027. 

At a community meeting Thursday night at MacArthur Park Elementary School, officials said fence installation is now expected to continue through fall 2027, overshooting the previously announced spring 2027 completion date.

Thursday’s meeting highlighted the divide over the city’s plan to fence off MacArthur Park, with tensions rising during public comment. The Los Angeles Police Department says the fence will make drug enforcement easier, while some in the community who volunteer around the park questioned whether it will improve safety enough to justify the cost.

The city has allocated $2.3 million for the project, but officials have not said whether that will cover the full cost.

Installation of the green metal fence around the park’s perimeter is expected to begin in November and take about a year. A second phase, adding decorative elements to the fence, is planned for fall and winter 2027. Officials said the schedule could change because of weather or other unforeseen circumstances.

The park is expected to remain open during construction.

Capt. Ben Fernandes with the LAPD’s Rampart Division said the fence would create a barrier along Alvarado Street and other areas where officers have seen people using narcotics. That would allow police to focus more of their enforcement efforts inside the park, he said.

“So if people are going deeper into the park to use, that’ll make it easier for us to go in and do enforcement on them and arrest them for that use,” Fernandes said. 

MacArthur Park will close every night once an 8-foot-tall fence goes up around the green space, with Los Angeles police officers sweeping the park for encampments and people sleeping there before the gates shut. The Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners approved the plan Thursday.

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LA Recreation and Parks

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“I’ve been an officer for 29 years, and I’ve always known I can go buy drugs there, and I did as a narcotics officer. So what I’m saying is, we are trying to make it not convenient,” he added. 

Fernandes also said the city plans to enhance the park’s existing camera network. LAPD officers and Los Angeles Park Rangers will be able to monitor the cameras from their respective stations, he said. City officials are still evaluating whether additional cameras will be needed to address blind spots in the park after construction is complete.

Ariana Walker, who visits MacArthur Park every Saturday with a group of friends who pool their own resources to distribute food and hygiene kits, questioned whether the city had shown that the fence would improve safety and how much it would cost to maintain.

“The fence is a $2.3 million fence at the base level,” she said. “And they haven’t given us any indication of how much more it’s going to cost for upkeep, to keep anybody safe. There’s no conclusive evidence that a fence is going to stop crime the way that they’re suggesting.”

The meeting grew tense when John Alle, a local property owner whose family owns the building that houses Langer’s Delicatessen across the street from the park, objected to having his comments read from a written comment card rather than speaking directly to officials. Alle has been a vocal critic of the city’s response to drug activity and public safety concerns around MacArthur Park.

He was allowed to comment during the meeting and said the city needs to take a tougher approach to drug use and sales around the park. 

“We see knife attacks at all hours of the day. It’s out of control. And it’s not gotten any better,” he said. “We want to bring it back to where it was 15 or 20 years ago.”

Los Angeles officials expect construction of a fence around MacArthur Park will start in November and continue through fall 2027.

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Gary Coronado

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The LA Local

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Alle pointed to public events at the park, including an upcoming Día de los Muertos celebration and a Labor Day weekend picnic hosted by Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman as positive developments for the space. But he added those events do not reflect conditions throughout the park.

Officials also outlined other planned improvements, including restoring access through the tunnels connecting the park’s north and south sides, making accessibility upgrades and providing free Wi-Fi for parkgoers. 

Residents who want to provide input on the fence’s decorative elements can email admin@themorcosgroup.com or call (310) 479-4727 for more information.

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