Editor's Corner: Photographer Has Been Feeding L.A. Homeless for 40 Years

It was the ear buds that first caught my attention.

The white cord stood out against the man’s dirt-smudged shirt, snaking somewhere into the darkness that occupied his shopping cart. I wondered what he was listening to.

Covered in blankets and dripping with bags, the cart was a staple on my block, the corner of Fourth and Molino streets in Downtown Los Angeles. My neighborhood of 100-year-old brick buildings-turned lofts, coffee houses, brew pubs and eclectic eateries sits mere blocks from Skid Row, a blighted community of down-on-their-luck folks, many of whom suffer from drug or alcohol addiction.

Addiction was not the case with Robert.

And although I’d walked past him every day since moving into the Arts District last year, I didn’t learn his name until a few weeks ago, while hanging with Henk Friezer at Buster’s Coffee in South Pasadena.

I was talking about my neighborhood and describing a homeless man with ear buds who lives in front of the old Coca Cola building on Fourth Street, steps from my front door.

“That’s Robert. I gave him those ear buds,’’ Friezer said.

The Eagle Rock resident has photographed every sporting event, every pet parade, every South Pas shindig for 20-plus years. He’s also shot images of Margaret Thatcher, the L.A riots and, 40 years ago, worked as a freelance photographer for the mayor's office and members of the Los Angeles City Council. 

This, I knew.

What I didn’t know was that Friezer has fed the Downtown homeless since the 1970s.

40 Years of Philanthropy

“My kids had rabbits,'' he said, explaining how it all started. "I was buying all this leftover lettuce for 50 cents a box, and then one day a produce manager told me he couldn’t sell it to me anymore. He told me to go down and look into the trash bin – that I could pull it from there,’’ he said.

To his disbelief, the Dumpster brimmed with bread and all manner of baked goods, not to mention produce that, while technically “expired,’’ wasn’t anything you haven’t pulled from your crisper drawer and served to your family.

Armed with unspoiled discards, Friezer showed up to his gig at City Hall, where many homeless roamed, and handed out free food. Week after week he did this, eventually being mobbed by scores of people hoping for a bite. Soon after, the local shelters approached the novice advocate and suggested he continue foraging, and they’d handle the disbursement.

Well, that didn’t work.

“I was hearing from the people that they weren’t getting any of the good stuff. They were only getting what the shelters didn’t want. So I started handing out to the streets again,’’ Friezer said.

At first, it was from his own pocket. And then came the food from South Pasadena’s Trader Joe’s, and then from the South Pasadena High School cafeteria.

“The new guidelines for students have resulted in a lot more food that we cannot re-sell,’’ said Michelle Curry, director of food and nutrition for the high school.

She broke down these guidelines.

“At breakfast and lunch students are required to take certain items, usually fruit, veggies or milk and they often do not want them. As crazy as it sounds, they have to pass our line with the item, and then may discard it at our ‘sharing table’ on the other side of the register. Honestly, it is wasteful and expensive for us, but those are the guidelines.

“Students have the first shot at the sharing table items- basically picking something up for free...which isn't a bad deal for many, and they visit it often. The silver lining is that we can give the food to Henk, and he passes it on to those struggling on Skid Row,’’ Curry said.

Friezer’s Method

On a recent Friday morning, Henk flipped open the rear window to his SUV, and revealed stacks of chips, packaged bacon, juice boxes, bags of loose apples and oranges, and the occasional water bottle. As he assembled the goods, a woman holding a cell phone approached the car.

“Is this free?’’ she asked.

“No, this is for him,’’ Friezer quipped, handing food to Robert, whom he's been helping since the 1990s.

Friezer explained that he passes out food to people who look to be in need. He surmises this based on the condition of their clothes, shoes and skin. He has a set of regulars, but will happily share the haul with anyone who looks to be homeless.

Robert’s sun-darkened forearms hugged bags of chips, a loose slice of pizza and some uncooperative fruit. Apples and oranges tumbled to the ground again and again. I offered him my Patch tote bag—I’ve offered dang near everyone a Patch tote bag— but he declined.

‘Grateful for What I have’

Speaking softly, Robert said he’s lived on the streets, off and on, since losing his job some 20 years ago. One year he stayed with his sister, and another year he was in a program. Once you’re living on the streets, he said, it’s a little harder to get back into the mainstream. So he’s just adapted, he said. Robert stays in the Arts District because it’s a little calmer, he said.

“It’s like any population: there's good and bad. Some of the people Downtown are very sweet and humble and nice. Then you have people on drugs and alcohol and sometimes their behavior is erratic. Some people have mental illness; they tend to be kind of unpredictable.

“I just try to live a simple life. It’s about being the best you can with whatever you have, whatever your circumstances. I try to keep a perspective on it because I read the papers and I realize people all over the world have it worse than me. I try to be grateful for what I have. I try not to bother people, try to be helpful if I can,’’ he said.

His articulation and humility leveled me. But I still wanted to know: What was Robert always listening to?

“Mostly news. Public radio. I like stories about people. It helps the time go by,’’ he said.

Editor’s Note: Henk Friezer continues to feed the homeless Downtown every Friday. While he receives many donated food items, he could use water donations with the summer coming. If you would like to donate to Henk’s cause, please email me at donna.evans@patch.com.  

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Henk Friezer's photography role for Los Angeles City Council. He was a freelance shooter.                        

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