Help Anthony Continue on a Straight Path

Hi, my name is Anthony Coleman. I grew up in Pasadena and Altadena and have lived in Skid Row, Los Angeles for the past 12 years. Currently, I am homeless and live in a hotel. For a long time, I have tried to help my community in different ways, as a volunteer, and as a gang intervention specialist with Brothers Against Banging Youth.

 

Last May, I was recruited to be a Community Health Worker doing COVID-19 vaccine outreach. It was my first job in public health, and I helped get a lot of my friends, neighbors, and unhoused people around Los Angeles vaccinated against COVID-19. My contract ended unexpectedly a few weeks ago. So now I am looking for my next job. That process has been taking longer than I hoped, and I need some financial help to get through the next few weeks or months until I can land a stable job. I have been through hard times before, including incarceration. In fact, I live in a hotel now w/ a shared bathroom, so I am still homeless. So really, I'm trying to stay on the path I'm on now.

 

As a Community Health Worker, I gained a lot of new skills in health education, harm reduction, and teaching my colleagues how to stay safe when doing outreach in encampments, basically sharing the "street smarts" I have developed over the years. I also learned to use a lot of different computer systems for the first time, and even learned to consent research participants into a UCLA study about same-day peer vaccine ambassadors. Our work was featured on the front page of the Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-10-18/los-angeles-homeless-people-peer-ambassadors-covid-vaccines

 

More recently, I have given a couple of national webinars on safety during vaccine outreach. In May, I'm going with my colleagues at UCLA to give a workshop at the National Healthcare for the Homeless Council. It really feels like I am on a good path, and I want to continue.

 

I have been applying to jobs in public health and homeless services, and I am confident I will find something eventually. But I know it takes time, and at this point I can't get through the next few weeks without help. Thank you for reading.

 

The picture is me with Ruby Romero, a research coordinator at UCLA who has been helping me apply to jobs. My friend Chelsea Shover set up the fundraiser for me, and we will transfer any donations to my bank account. But I don't have a laptop anymore, so easier to have her manage the tech part.