MEET--Homeless Woman Has a Master in Mathematics and Engineering

Today, let me tell you all that it's wonderful so many of you are reaching out with job offers for Mona. Your compassion is commendable. Mona needs some time inside with support services, otherwise, she would not be able to maintain employment. It's extremely rare that a person can go from homelessness to a job without support to heal, and that support must include housing. Mona is a great example of why we all need to advocate for more affordable housing and mental health services. This compassion that's driving you to offer Mona a job, please use it to help all of the homeless women like her sleeping outside. I cannot stress enough how important housing and support services are to help people with the trauma of homelessness.

Mona lives homeless in a tent near Los Angeles's International Airport. Before the pandemic, police made homeless people tear down their tents every morning. When COVID hit, the CDC recommended that homeless people be allowed to keep their tents up all day. Mona has lived in this park for four months, which she says is safe.

Mona's house burned down in the Thomas Fire, and when she lost her house, she also lost her work-from-home job. Mona has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. She is two classes away from her Master's in Mathematics because she left to go to another college where she received a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering.

Prior to the fire, it had been a while since Mona worked in her field doing electricity research. She ended up working from home, and then that all crashed after her house burned down.

When I asked Mona if anyone is helping her, she says service providers come around providing meals, but there is no path to housing being offered. Mono continued sharing it's nearly impossible to maintain a job while living homeless in a park. Mona talks about service providers are overwhelmed, which is why it's hard to navigate the system.

Homelessness is a growing, national crisis. It should be addressed in Washington. Bottom line: Housing is the solution. We need more resources to get folks into housing. Demand action. With your help, we can end homelessness.