There is a young man, Anakin, who appears to be homeless that needs help.
Ethan, who is a friend to Anakin, posted on Nextdoor on Saturday night:
“This is my best friend Anakin. He is a Palisades local and grew up here and went to school here. For some of you who have seen him acting a bit weird or crazy in the village. He has schizophrenia/bipolar disorder and has been off his meds for a few months. His remaining family is not around here anymore and is not involved at the moment.
“He refuses meds and has lost his job, room that he was renting and is now just sleeping on the streets. I am trying to see if anyone knows any good medical teams to call or get him connected with the right people.
“He’s not some random person just roaming around. He doesn’t know what’s going on and he’s suffering from mental illness. I’m making this post to spread awareness for mental health and to look at it in a different way rather than judge or anything like that.”
The story took another turn last Thursday, when Caruso guards chased Anakin off the Palisades Village property and he went into PaliSkates, where he spent the day and wouldn’t leave until the store closed. Ethan took Anakin home that night.
On Friday morning the young man was once again in the Village. The guards were following him. Anakin want to Paliskates and waited for the store to open.
The staff called police, who showed up with four cars on Swarthmore, blocking the street to through traffic.
When the police went into the store, the young man insisted on buying a pair of pants, which he did.
PaliSkate owner Erica Simpson said, “The kids know we are a safe place when they need help. He needs help.”
On Saturday, Simpson called Sharon Kilbride, the co-president of the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness, to ensure Anakin can get the help needs.
Kilbride said the PPTFH social workers return on Tuesday and will try to reach out to Anakin. She also posted on Nextdoor that “There is a new mental health hotline, dial 988 and you can speak to someone.”
Another person wrote on Nextdoor: “My sons and I encountered Anakin outside of Pharmaca yesterday afternoon. He was acting erratically and talking to himself. It was difficult to reconcile his behavior with his youth and appearance (looked just like a typical local high school / college kid). But this makes a lot of sense. I lost my uncle to this exact combination of illnesses when I was a child. He was a beautiful brilliant loving artist and human. Profound loss for our family. I’m so thankful Sharon is aware of the situation and will help if she can.
To see more about Anakin, who played varsity tennis at Palisades High School, visit: https://www.instagram.com/anakin.peace/?hl=en
If anyone can help Anakin, please reach out to the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness (palisadeshomeless.org) or the outreach team (palisadesoutreach@thepeopleconcern.org).
What kind of city do we live in where a mentally ill young man can’t get any help from law enforcement (4 cars!!) and is told to wait a few days for a counselor from PPTFH to report to work? Why couldn’t the police take him somewhere to get services, like Covenant House? Don’t the police know where shelters and services are located and why didn’t they intervene and help him out? Is it a case of “not my job?”
I don’t understand why families are allowed to be “not involved at the moment.” If every family took care of their own, there wouldn’t be so many homeless. Why make society carry the burden? It’s not fair to the person who is sick, nor to the rest of us trying to go through our day. I’m sure it is devastating and exhausting to the family, but is it really better to allow a loved one to disintegrate?
The mom is incapable of caring for her son, and who knows why. Not everyone is built to handle this kind of mental health load, and much support is needed. 50 years ago I learned in a health science class that in 50 years it will take one person to care for one person. 1:1
That thought comes to my mind often now. I wish this young man luck. What a good friend he has in Ethan.