By Shirley Hawkins
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — Tamara G. Lewis remembers the incident as if it happened yesterday.
“I had just attended a business dinner at a restaurant in Santa Monica and I stepped outside to go home,” she said.
But Lewis encountered a surprise: loitering in the doorway of the restaurant were several homeless people. She looked into their faces and what she saw were desperate eyes.
“I found myself stepping over homeless people and the whole tragic scene really traumatized me,” said Lewis, a Christian who was raised in the church.
“Right then, I saw how the homeless problem had gotten totally out of control. I had a talk with God and I asked him to please show me how I could help the homeless.”
That was 19 years ago and Lewis has since made it her life’s mission to help the less fortunate. She founded We Are Our Brother’s Keeper in November 2005, a nonprofit organization that distributes backpacks to men, women and children on Skid Row.
She attributes her need to help the less fortunate from her mother.
“She always told me we had a responsibility to take care of each other,” Lewis said.
Her nonprofit is supported entirely by donations which allow Lewis to purchase the backpacks and the supplies she places in them.
“The backpacks are filled with love,” Lewis said. “We distribute hygiene products, water, canned goods, scarves, hats, gloves, soup, juices and blankets. We have even distributed tents to the needy.”
Award-winning actor Tony Todd, best known for his iconic role in playing the horror villain in the cult film “Candyman,” was one of Lewis’ most cherished volunteers. Todd, who also played in the films “Final Destination” and the Vietnam war movie “Platoon,” died on Nov. 6 at the age of 69 at his home in Marina del Rey.
Todd regularly visited Skid Row to help Lewis distribute her backpacks.
“He was a sweetheart,” said Lewis, who paid tribute to Todd on her website. “He was always willing to help. God bless him.”
After many years of mingling with the residents of Skid Row, Lewis said she was struck by the fact that many of the unhoused were African American.
“Skid Row is like entering a fourth world country,” Lewis said. “It is really sad to know that we are the richest country in the world and yet when you come down here, all you see are Black people living in despair — including women and children.
“I feel that there is some level of systemic racism taking place because the number of Blacks living on Skid Row appears to be disproportionate to the population of Blacks living in Los Angeles,” she said. “I believe there is racism occurring because the uneven numbers just don’t add up.”
Lewis is gratified that Mayor Karen Bass is tackling the vast problem of getting the homeless off the streets.
“But I think she needs help,” Lewis said. “The homeless problem is enormous and growing. Right now, I read that more than 70,000 people in Los Angeles County are unhoused.
“I feel that all of the nonprofit organizations that are working with the homeless right now should unite and request a meeting with Bass and offer their services because enough resources are not being made available to the homeless,” she added. “I’m afraid she won’t reach her goal to get the majority of the homeless off the streets without more help.”
Lewis said that she has been surprised by the diverse occupations of people she has met who call Skid Row their home.
“I’ve met lawyers, Marines, veterans, and even educators who are living there and have experienced some sort of psychotic breakdown,” she said. “Every single one had gone through some sort of trauma.”
Lewis said that there are success stories as well.
“I had a friend who was a well renowned chef and he had become homeless,” she said. “When we pulled up in our truck on Skid Row, he was eagerly waving an ‘Our Brother’s Keeper’ sign. I think he was still grieving over his son, who had struggled with drugs and had died from a drug overdose. We finally got him into housing and helped him to get a job.”
Lewis, who calls herself a “street soldier,” said her mission statement is simple: “Our goal is to challenge the people of this great nation by taking action against the unfortunate plight of homelessness in the world in which we live and to instill and restore hope and to love beyond self.”
Lewis said that the organization is always seeking volunteers.
To help, Contact the nonprofit at weareourbrotherskeeper.org or call 310 895-6262.
Shirley Hawkins is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers. She can be reached at metropressnews@gmail.com.
