Books with Brooks returns to MacArthur Park
While kids play soccer using goalposts constructed of yellow caution tape, small clusters of homeless individuals sit on the grass watching. Some are using drugs; others nap under the gray sky.
“Skid Row gets so much attention that sometimes MacArthur Park is overlooked. Seeing that, and just from my mother’s personal story. I had to return,” Justin Ellis-Brooks, a Santa Monica College (SMC) student and founder of Books with Brooks, said.
Books with Brooks’ (BwB) second mutual aid event at MacArthur Park ended with a man receiving overdose reversal medication hours after it was handed to him by a volunteer on May 17.
As the event came to a close, the restroom attendant found a man overdosing. The attendant put the man outside and left him on the ground.
The man’s pupils were constricted and his body was limp. His breathing slowed as he nodded off, unable to maintain consciousness.
Los Angeles Police Officer Carlos Diaz investigated the scene and found the man face down in the dirt. He briefly stood next to him, inspected the other restrooms and left. He did not appear to render aid.
The Corsair reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department for comment, but has not received a response as of publication.
An individual from the same encampment noticed the overdose and sprinted toward a drawstring bag he received from the event, and pulled out a box of Narcan. He administered the dose and returned to his group, as witnessed by Corsair staff.
The man regained consciousness but refused to leave with the paramedics. After crying, the man thanked those around for helping. Then, he walked over to his friends and sat with his head in his lap.
“Narcan, man, it’s so important. It’s also expensive. We always need more,” Ellis-Brooks said.
BwB organized the event in collaboration with SMC’s barber program. Community care days are student-led community mutual aid efforts to help with homelessness and drug addiction in low-income areas.
“It’s our second event of the year. We’re building on the momentum from the first event,” Ellis-Brooks said.
Ellis-Brooks raised $3,400 for the event. He contributed $1,600, and $1,800 came from donations, according to Ellis-Brooks. Jacqueline Monge, a cosmetology professor at SMC, provided free haircuts.
BwB issued Narcan, fentanyl test strips, 220 colored drawstring bags containing hygiene kits and prepared 500 plates of home-cooked food.
Monge provided 12 haircuts in four hours. A white foldable chair was used as a barber’s chair, and children who needed a boost sat on two 24-packs of soda.
“I love cutting hair, especially seeing the kids smile after a free haircut,” Monge said.
BwB was unable to provide a date for their next event, but they’ll return, according to Ellis-Brooks.
“I saw the immediate impact of the work we did,” he said. “It underscores why the community needs to be involved and stand up for each other.”