- [Interviewer] Dakota.
- Yes. - [Interviewer] We're here
in Venice, you're homeless. - Yes I am. - [Interviewer] Tell me about it. - It sucks, it really sucks. It sucks trying to get
money to survive every day, and it's hard to get GR
when you don't have an ID, 'cause people around
here steal everything. - [Interviewer] You don't have an ID? - No, and I have to order
my birth certificate from another state. - [Interviewer] Oh my gosh. - Yeah, before I can even get an ID. It's very hard for me to do anything when I don't have an ID, very hard. - [Interviewer] For
anybody to do anything. You can't even leave. - Exactly, I can't even get on a plane or a bus to go home, and it's hard to make
even five bucks a day, unless you dig through
the trash and recycle, but I don't like to dig through the trash. - [Interviewer] I can't do
the dumpster diving myself. - No, if it's sitting outside or sitting on top of the dumpster, okay, but not if it's, I'm not digging. - [Interviewer] 'Cause the
good stuff's at the bottom, that's what they always say. - You know what, I will admit that when I first came here I did, and the good stuff is on the bottom. - [Interviewer] Yeah, don't
let the first layer scare you. - I found 50 pesos one time. - [Interviewer] Wow, wow. - It was kind of interesting. - [Interviewer] So, how
do you survive out here? - Day by day, moment by moment. Like, I didn't expect to be
able to go through her luggage and get a dress out or whatever I wanted. I didn't expect you to come up. You know, I live it moment by moment, whatever happens happens. It always happens for a reason. - [Interviewer] You said
all your stuff was stolen. - Yeah, I'm usually by myself, but I like to bunk with somebody, that way I'm in a tent. But I was bunking with someone and somehow all my stuff just disappeared, but I think it disappeared
underneath his tent. - [Interviewer] It's gotta
be extremely challenging for a woman out here. - Oh yeah, we constantly
have to show ourselves or prove ourselves
worthy of being out here or we get kicked off the
block and moved down. It's kind of political, but
it's not political out here. Like, we have our own
homeless laws, you know, gang laws, law law. You know, like, it's a lot. It's a lot to take in. - [Interviewer] Well, from what I've seen, it looks like people get
used to living out here. - Yeah, they grow accustomed to it. I'm growing accustomed to it, shit. Oh, sorry. - [Interviewer] No, that's fine. These aren't edited, though, so if you swear, it's in there. - I'm kinda still getting used
to the idea of a cold shower, very cold shower. - [Interviewer] Where do you clean up? - At the restrooms, at the restrooms. - [Interviewer] The birdbath style? - Yeah, because the marina doesn't like us using the public restroom
that has a hot shower. I went there yesterday to take a shower and they had ripped the handles off so I couldn't turn the water on. - [Interviewer] Oh my gosh. - Yeah, it's pretty
hard, it's pretty hard. - [Interviewer] It's gotta be-- - Like it sucks, honestly it sucks. Like, I like being outside,
I like the environment, you know, but I don't like the fact that it's a struggle almost every day. You know, like, there's some days that I just don't wanna wake up because, you know, I wake up and I'm constantly reminded
my kids aren't here, you know, I'm homeless,
I don't have any food, you know, I'm hungry. It sucks, but it does have its perks because we get to see
all the hot celebrities. - [Interviewer] You can what? - See all the hot celebrities. God, them pictures don't
do them any justice. (laughing) And we, like, as a homeless community, we come across a lot of things, like a lot of things. Like, wow, who knew? Like, this was trash at some point. Like, that's a perfect,
that's a perfectly good dress. Why you throwing brand new shoes away? - [Interviewer] But still, you'd rather have indoor plumbing. You'd rather be out of homelessness. - Well, I am a tomboy, but yes, I would love to be out of homelessness because I would love to
cook a meal by myself instead of having to go the fast food way or put it in a microwave. No, I like to cook. - [Interviewer] Well, for me, it was having Chinese food delivered. - See, I don't like Chinese food. I do-- - [Interviewer] But just
having something delivered, having a home. - Yes, like fried chicken. - [Interviewer] Whatever, just
having something delivered. - [Woman Off Camera] A door to lock. - A door to lock, like yeah. - [Interviewer] A door to lock, privacy. - Yes, privacy, privacy,
and out of the wind. - [Woman Off Camera] Just a door to lock. If I had a locker I'd be happy. - Out of the wind. The wind, oh my gosh,
I'm so dry, and my hair. It sucks being in the
elements, being a girl. Like guys, whatever. Girls are like, oh my god, I gotta change 10 times a day because it's so gross. Like, it's pretty dirty out here, but we try to keep it as clean as we can. - [Interviewer] Do you feel safe out here? - When I'm around certain people, yes. When I'm around the people
that I know the best, I feel safe. I mean, I go out by myself at night and nobody messes with me because I don't mess with nobody, I don't steal nothing, you know. - [Interviewer] Respect people. - I respect people. - [Interviewer] What would you want people in Venice to know about
homeless people in Venice that they probably don't know? - Some of us, it's not our choice. Some of us have left our
kids and our family behind for a better life for them, and it's hard being a homeless person. - [Interviewer] You were telling me you were being abused. - Yeah, I was physically and mentally abused by my husband. - [Interviewer] And
you're safe now, though. - I'm safe now, but he did put my kids up for adoption when I left, and that's the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with out here. - [Interviewer] I'm sorry. - Because I love my children. - [Interviewer] I'm sorry. - It's not your fault. And I know I seem angry at
a lot of the people here when I wake up and my kids aren't here. I hate going to sleep, 'cause all I do is dream about my kids and then I wake up and they're not here, and it's a constant reminder of how much I miss 'em, and a lot of people don't understand that. It's hard for me, just by myself. Imagine what she's going through or he's going through, you know? It could be 10 times worse than what I'm going through right now. - [Interviewer] That's what
people don't understand is they see the homeless
person but they don't see-- - Oh, get a job you lazy bum. It's not like that, it's not that easy. I don't have an ID. I can't get a job without an ID. I've had places say they would help me, you know, work with me. Exactly, like I've had plenty of places say they were gonna help me and work with me on
getting my ID and stuff, but here I am. - [Woman Off Camera] Sanitation comes in at any given time and takes all your shit. - Yeah, and then Friday comes around and you have a plastic
bag you have to fill up of stuff that you can keep. If not, it gets thrown away. You're only allowed to have one bicycle, one working mode of transportation. Why can't I have a
skateboard and a bicycle? Why do I have to clean up my mess and throw away stuff when
I'm not bothering anybody? Do we go to your house and tell you to throw your stuff away because there's a plant that's
broken or something? - [Interviewer] Well, it's not
like you guys have a choice, like you can go rent a
storage unit without, I mean, GR is not enough money
to do hardly anything. - I'm not even on GR yet 'cause of my ID. - [Interviewer] 'cause
you don't have an ID. So you don't have any income? - No, just if I find something or if I get something from someone, I'll try to trade it
for food, or you know. - [Interviewer] Right, you're a hustler. - Yeah, try to-- - [Interviewer] You're hustling, you have to hustle out here to survive. - You have to, you have to. You have to be street
smart to live out here, you have to be, and book smart. It doesn't help if you're book
smart and not street smart, it doesn't help if you're
street smart and not book smart. You have to be both and you
have to be your own person. I believe Venice is a place for the homeless people to find themselves. It's a home for the lost that
come here to find themselves. And honestly, I think it
was a good thing for me, because I'm finding myself
more and more every day. I'm angry a little bit,
a little bit angry, a little bit angry. I don't mean to be, I am a nice person, but I miss my kids really bad, really bad. - [Interviewer] Well,
if you had three wishes, what would they be? - I wish I would find my soulmate so we could cuddle at night, and spoon, and keep me warm, I wish that my children were here with me so that I could take care of them, and love them, and tell them how much I love them every day, and I wish I had a job and
wasn't homeless, successful. - [Interviewer] Great
wishes, great wishes. Well, thank you very
much for talking to me. - Well thank you. (gentle music)
