The Brief

If you’ve lost touch with a loved one and suspect they are living on the street, in their car or in shelters, it can be difficult to find them again. Once you’ve found them (or if you never lost touch) it can be just as hard to figure out how to help. CalMatters has compiled some tips from people who have been through that process, or have helped others through it.

How to find a homeless loved one

• File a missing persons report, suggested Gabby Cordell, director of reunion services for the San Francisco-based nonprofit Miracle Messages. That way, every time the missing person has contact with law enforcement or enters a hospital, that report should come up, she said. The officer or hospital may tell the person that their family is looking for them. In some cases, the facility may even reach out to whoever filed the report.
  Families also can submit their case to Miracle Messages for help at miraclemessages.org/findthem.
  
• Turn to social media. Robin Wells Plantz created the Missing & Homeless Facebook group 10 years ago to help reconnect families. She posts the stories of missing people, complete with photos and identifying details, in the hope that someone will see it and recognize the person. The page now has more than 100,000 followers, and Plantz has lost count of how many dozens of people it has helped reunite. She invites anyone searching for a homeless loved one to send a message to her via that group.
  She also encourages people to create a new Facebook page dedicated to finding their loved one, and share it as widely as possible. That way, anyone with a tip can send it to that page.
  
• Hire a private investigator.
  
• Try Googling, just in case your loved one was photographed or quoted in a news article about homelessness.
  
• Talk to street outreach workers. Homeless shelters, soup kitchens and other facilities (especially medical facilities) probably won’t tell you if they’ve seen your loved one, in an effort to protect their privacy, Plantz said. You’ll have better luck asking the people who go to encampments and hand out food and other necessities, she said. Make fliers with your loved one’s photo and hand them out to as many outreach workers as you can, she advised. 
  
• Don’t focus on their name. Many unhoused people go by a street name, or multiple street names, that are different from the name you know. When asking about your loved one, show photos instead, Plantz suggested. 
  
• Be careful about sharing your phone number. Don’t put your phone number on a flier or Facebook page that will be widely distributed — that can lead to harassment and other problems, Plantz cautioned. Instead, direct people to Facebook or other places to report tips.
  
• Don’t give up. Cordell remembers one case where she reconnected a man with his family after 40 years. In another case, a woman in Southern California was getting ready to hold a memorial for her sister, when the sister turned up on a street corner in San Francisco. “That’s the biggest thing: Don’t give up,” said Plantz, who has been searching for her mother for 30 years. “Would you want somebody to give up on you?”

How to help a homeless loved one

• “Be patient. Manage expectations,” Cordell said. Don’t assume that you will be able to solve your loved one’s homelessness quickly or easily. “A lot happens for someone to typically end up in the situation they’re in, which means we can’t expect an immediate solution or an immediate fix,” said Heather Griffin, director of shelter and services for Silicon Valley-based nonprofit LifeMoves.
  
• Allow time to repair the relationship. It will take time for both sides to heal emotionally, Griffin said. 
  
• Ask questions. “I wouldn’t try to tell them to do anything,” said Deborah O’Dell, who runs a support group for the families of people with mental illnesses in Los Angeles County, which includes multiple participants who have a homeless loved one. “Just ask: ‘Hey, what’s your day like? What’s going on? What are you doing?’ And just listen. Don’t be judgmental. Just be an ear and listen. And then ask, ‘Is there anything that I can do to help?’ If there’s not, don’t try to do anything. Because you’ll just push them away from you.”
  
• Touch them. “Be willing to give them a hug,” O’Dell said. “Just show them unconditional love.”
  
• Call to check in. When O’Dell’s adult son was living in his truck, she called him every other day to make sure he had food, blankets and other necessities. If he needed something, she put money in his bank account. 
  
• You can still help, even if your loved one doesn’t want to or isn’t ready to come inside – or if you aren’t ready to invite them into your home. You might be able to help them with other needs, such as accessing health care, searching for jobs or signing up for social services, Griffin said. 
  
• Provide an address. It’s often difficult for unhoused people to receive money from Social Security and other benefits because they don’t have a fixed address. Consider letting them use your address to get checks and other important mail. You could also offer to keep their birth certificate and other identification safe, until they need it to apply for housing or other services. 
  
• Create boundaries and stick to them if you invite your loved one into your home, O’Dell said. That could mean, for example, requiring that your loved one go to therapy once a month, or prohibiting drugs in your home. 
  
• Understand that sometimes, you won’t be able to get your loved one off the streets – at least not yet. “Sometimes, you’ve got to love them where they’re at,” Plantz said. “And that’s the hardest. That’s the hardest of it all, is loving them where they’re at.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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J.W. Hendricks

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The LA Local

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.