In the early morning hours, a crowd of people gathers outside of a nondescript building in Los Angeles’ Skid Row neighborhood. They’re all homeless and all looking to find shelter, not for themselves but for their personal possessions, which they keep in everything from plastic bags to shopping carts to suitcases as they wait in the crowd.
They’ve come to The Bin. Operated by the L.A. homeless assistance organization Chrysalis, it’s one of only two storage facilities in Los Angeles where the city’s homeless population can store their property free of charge, whether its a single day or several weeks.
Below, KCRW goes inside The Bin. (Video by Jared Morgan)
“Well, we provide storage options for the homeless population,” says Alex Connedy, the on-site manger for The Bin.” They don’t have any stability, and they are constantly in transition with all of their property. Many times their property is lost and stolen because they have nowhere to keep it safe. So what we provide is an option for them, free of charge, to come and store their personal belongings.”
