I am 73 years old, and I guess I shouldn’t be living on the streets.

Those were a few of his words during our conversation.

The first time I met Jeff, as everyone calls him, it was the winter of 2013 during the homeless count that took place in the city of Long Beach.

Our volunteer group came across him as we were canvassing our area along the 710 freeway. Jeff was living in the concrete flood control channel where the Los Angeles River flows, inside an enormous concrete drain.