On Monday, Jan. 22nd, Orange County officials began clearing the homeless encampment on the Santa Ana riverbed. This encampment, one of the largest in the L.A. basin and the largest in Orange County, stretches more than three miles and houses approximately 1,000 regular inhabitants.Where will all these people go?
The more important question, though: What’s being done to quell the ongoing rise in homelessness?
National Innovators in a Half-Day Panel
Illumination Foundation, a non-profit entity providing services to break the cycle of homelessness, is addressing that very issue on Thursday, Feb. 8th with a panel presentation:  
Are We Doing Enough to End Homelessness?
National Frontrunners Share Their Innovations
(That No One Believed Could Happen)
Thursday, Feb 8th, 2018
8:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Christ Cathedral Campus, Cultural Center Freed Theater
13280 Chapman Avenue, Garden Grove, CA.  92840
Purchase the $20 Panel tickets (which include continental breakfast) at: IFHomeless.org/homelessnesspanel
“Orange County is in a crisis situation with homelessness at an all-time high,” says Illumination Foundation CEO Paul Leon. “It’s time for all of us to transition from blame dialogue to implementation of real action solutions. Silver bullet remedies do not exist. Renowned advocates like Dr. Jim O’Connell and Bobby Watts can guide us in the right direction.”
The panel features two of the country’s leading innovators in homeless care, including Boston’s Dr. James J. O’Connell. Known as Boston’s only doctor making house calls to the homeless, he is the 32-year initiator behind national sweeping changes in homeless care.
Dr. O’Connell will be joined on stage by Bobby Watts, CEO of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council. Watts began his work 30 years ago at the New York City Rescue Mission in Manhattan, and has since worked tirelessly with government and private institutions to implement services and resources to all 50 states.
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