Down and Out in L.A.: When the Middle Class Goes Homeless

Volunteer Jessica Valencia, right, serves meals at the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles' Skid Row on May 16, 2011

At a homeless shelter on Skid Row in Los Angeles, there's a man who once made a six-figure salary as a successful producer of Hollywood films and sitcoms. He produced a movie that grossed tens of millions at the box office, was represented by one of the largest television agencies and used to be friends with well-known actors. But then he had trouble getting work, and after a while was unable to pay rent. His family moved in with a friend, but then that house went into foreclosure. So four months ago, with nowhere else to turn, he arrived at the shelter with his wife and two boys. "I did everything I could not to end up in the stereotype of a shelter," says the producer, who asks not to be identified because he fears jeopardizing his chance of landing work. "I want out of here so bad I don't even want to engage in the culture. I don't want to be comfortable because I'm not."

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