Midwest promises new life to LA family living in car: 'We're willing to give California up'

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Wayne, his partner and son sift through their storage unit in Los Angeles.

Since they lost their apartment in June, they’ve kept the belongings of their old one-bedroom unit neatly stored in a 10-by-10-foot space — bins of clothing, a refrigerator, a mattress. Their 4-year-old, A, plays with a wooden activity cube, a familiar toy he hasn’t played with in a while. (We’re using Wayne’s first name and A’s first initial only to protect their family’s privacy.)

That night, they’ll start driving east — to a new home.

“There's nothing here for us to be around. The faster we get on the road, the faster we can get to a new life that actually has some potential,” Wayne said.

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Unable to find shelter resources in L.A., Wayne and his family have been living in their car. After LAist reported on Wayne’s story, he received a couple donations — enough to get a new rental out of state in the Midwest, where he had a job offer. They got the U-Haul right away.

Before they left, a case worker from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority gave them gift cards for $60 dollars worth of groceries, he said. (LAHSA reached out to LAist after the story aired.)

‘We’re willing to give up California’

Wayne’s family lost their apartment at a time when the homeless services system in L.A. County has been strained. The county is facing cuts to housing services, driven in part by a drop in federal and state funding. And earlier this year, LAHSA circulated a memo about dwindling capacity for family housing. Meanwhile, the number of people experiencing homelessness in families with children has been on the rise.

“ In L.A., it feels like we're swimming against a current,” Wayne said. He was laid off from his job last year. While Wayne grew up here and doesn’t agree with the politics of the state he’s moving to, he said he was running out of options.

“We're willing to give California up for that because the most important thing is to be housed and fed. So, it's like a bittersweet feeling of like, damn, we're gonna go to a place where we know nothing, we know no one, we have no connections,” he said.

Wayne's son, A, slept for 15 hours straight in his new home. "He just wants to take in – the stability of being inside," Wayne said.

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In his new state, he’s renting a 3-bedroom house with a yard for $1,000 per month. The average cost of a one-bedroom unit is around $2,100 in L.A., and in order to afford it — workers need to make at least $40 an hour, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Having to live in his car with his 4-year-old, he said, was “soul-crushing.”

His partner, who wanted to be identified by her first initial, E., said they had even contemplated giving their son up for adoption.

“This was terrible. We feel absolutely horrible having our child out here like this,” she said. “ We got so frustrated some nights that he wouldn't sleep in the car that we would just all sit there crying. The first night, he got a pretty bad rash on him, like, all over his body. And then, not being able to wash him as often is just ... it breaks my heart.”

Settling into their new home

After packing up their things that Wednesday night, they made it to Victorville before calling it a day. Over the next week, they drove out in their U-Haul — getting winter clothes on Black Friday at a Carter’s for their son on the way. They moved into their new home last week.

A ran into every room, exploring.

“He was kind of standing there for a bit, just kind of blank stare, and then I told him, ‘It's our home,’ and he smiled,” Wayne said.

He said the exhaustion of having to live in their car has caught up with all of them — A slept for 15 hours straight on his old mattress on the floor.

They’re all still getting used to the winter weather.

“We unloaded the fridge from the truck, and I slipped literally on the ice outside, but I was telling them, ‘Welcome to the Midwest.’”

But he said they’re warm and comfortable — and are happy to have their own place. His son still is soaking it all in.

“We left to go to the store earlier today, and he didn't wanna leave. He said ‘bye-bye’ to the house and started crying. He didn't wanna leave,” Wayne said. “He just wants to be inside. I think he just wants to take in — the stability of being inside.”