When I read this article on overcrowded housing in the Los Angeles Times yesterday, it brought me right back to 1996, when I knocked on perhaps a hundred doors in Northwest Pasadena to invite children to join our vacation Bible school.
To have a conversation, I would often sit on the bottom bed of a set of bunk sleepers, while other families members did the same. All of us crooking our necks so as not to hit our heads on the bunk above. No space for a couch or even in some cases for a table and chairs. One home I visited had 10 families.
Later, for my doctoral work I interviewed seven gang kids, seeking to discern why they entered gangs. Overcrowding was one of the issues; kids often found their sense of place in the streets.
Segregated housing and students being placed in special education were some of the other reasons, which challenged my assumptions. I had thought the core issue had more to do with family issues. What do you think? Jill Shook http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-crowding-20140308,0,6827011.story#axzz2vUJWN1Hf
Making Housing and Community Happen 
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