He thought he would have better luck in L.A., but so far, nothing has worked out.
Prior to the pandemic McFarland held down two jobs, but was unable to find work in Fresno as lockdowns eased. I was like, what am I doing here? Like, this is not okay. “I woke up one morning and I literally looked around like, What?,” McFarland said “I literally broke down into tears. He was there for a couple of weeks, but after getting into three physical altercations with other unhoused men in a state of psychosis or just looking to pick a fight, he decided it wasn’t safe and moved again to a park in East L.A. McFarland found himself living on the streets near the Walk of Fame in Hollywood for a few weeks before moving to the MacArthur Park neighborhood. He arrived in Los Angeles from Fresno nearly two months ago after being kicked out by his dad who said he needed to find a job or enroll in college.
Zack McFarland, 24, is unhoused and waiting for one of those beds. One way it plans to accomplish this goal is speeding up the time it takes to move people living in shelters to permanent supportive housing - freeing up beds for those waiting to get into a shelter. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) recently shared its plan to reduce unsheltered homelessness over the next three years.
