In 2018, three Times journalists set off to tell the stories of three women in the world of the unhoused above the Hollywood Freeway.
The documentary premiered at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in February. Watch our trailer
Mckenzie Trahan had lived on the streets of Hollywood on and off since she was 13. At 22, she was nearly seven months pregnant and staying in a tent in the dirt above the 101 Freeway.
“Stitches,†to her friends — or as her scalp tattoo put it, one of “Hollywood’s Finest†— would struggle to find and keep a home to raise her baby.
In the process, she would have to leave behind the street life and friends that had sustained her during the years she survived by her wits and fists as one of L.A.’s many thousands of homeless people.
In 2018, reporter Gale Holland, photographer Christina House and videographer Claire Hannah Collins set off to tell the stories of Mckenzie; her mother, Cynthia “Cat†Trahan; and her case manager, Leslie Kerr. Follow along on their journey.
Read the series
More to Read
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
![[20060326 (LA/A20) -- STATING THE CASE: Marchers organized by unions, religious organizations and immigrants rights groups carry signs and chant in downtown L.A. "People are really upset that all the work they do, everything that they give to this nation, is ignored," said Angelica Salas of the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights. -- PHOTOGRAPHER: Photographs by Gina Ferazzi The Los Angeles Times] *** [Ferazzi, Gina -- - 109170.ME.0325.rights.12.GMF- Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times - Thousands of protesters march to city hall in downtown Los Angeles Saturday, March 25, 2006. They are protesting against House-passed HR 4437, an anti-immigration bill that opponents say will criminalize millions of immigrant families and anyone who comes into contact with them.]](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/722dda1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1983x1322+109+0/resize/840x560!/format/webp/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fzbk%2Fdamlat_images%2FLA%2FLA_PHOTO_ARCHIVE%2FSDOCS%2854%29%2Fkx3lslnc.JPG)
