For people dying on L.A. streets, he offers help, and he won't take no for an answer - Los Angeles Times
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For people dying on L.A. streets, he offers help, and he won’t take no for an answer

By Francine OrrStaff Photographer 
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Anthony Ruffin has 20 or more clients he checks on regularly. They include the Hollywood 14, who are so sick — some of them are barely alive — and have been identified by community leaders as priorities.

HOLLYWOOD, CA February 28, 2017: Anthony Ruffin, 48, kneels to speak with a homeless man as he is sleeping on the sidewalk in Hollywood, CA January 30, 2017. Twice a weak he goes out on the streets at 3:30am in Hollywood to work with the mentally ill homeless. Anthony quietly listens and says, "I get on the level of the people on the street because it a sign of respect, compassion and the relationship for that brief moment becomes intimate. They are telling me their struggles and pains of being homeless and sick." Anthony works for Housing Works, a nonprofit that steers homeless people into housing and services. (Francine Orr/ Los Angeles Times)
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Anthony Ruffin, 48, kneels to speak with a homeless man as he is sleeping on the sidewalk in Hollywood.

Ruffin goes out in the middle of the night because there are fewer distractions for people with severe mental illness.

In the pouring rain Anthony Ruffin, left, checks on one of his top 14 clients.

A man sitting on the sidewalk beneath a blanket tells Ruffin his name is “Blaze" and he needs help getting an identification card.

In pain, Eddie "Snake" Carter, a wheelchair-bound double amputee, sits outside Starbucks in Hollywood.

Ruffin, left, and Alan Wise Baker, right, help Johnny Popphan stand up in the pouring rain.

At 4:30 a.m., Anthony Ruffin finds Eddie "Snake" Carter in pain, sheltering under a bus stop. He convinces the wheelchair-bound double amputee to go to a hospital.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Ruffin finds Eddie "Snake" Carter in pain, sheltering under a bus stop.

A woman sleeps on the sidewalk in Hollywood. Ruffin carries a caseload of about 25 clients through Housing Works, including the Hollywood 14.

Monic Bell holds her dog Hades outside her tent in Hollywood. Bell is homeless and says she was in the foster system.

Ruffin kneels as he checks on a homeless woman sleeping on a bus bench in Hollywood.

Eddie “Snake" Carter sits in his new electric is a wheelchair, as outreach worker Anthony Ruffin, right, clasps his hand in joy at Housing Works in Hollywood.

Eddie "Snake"Carter tests out his new electric is a wheelchair, as outreach worker Anthony Ruffin walks along.

A homeless man sleeps on the steps of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Hollywood.

Ruffin checks a manhole on in Hollywood, after a homeless man popped up, then disappeared back underground.

A homeless woman who has lived in the same spot for 15 years, sleeps in Hollywood.

Outreach worker Anthony Ruffin helped a homeless man covered with sores and dried blood.

Ruffin, left with client Robert Blake, as he does his laundry in Hollywood.

With legs so swollen she can barely stand, Joanne Voiro says has been living on the street for four weeks.

A homeless man sleeps on a pile of trash in Hollywood.

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Francine Orr

Francine Orr was a staff photojournalist for the Los Angeles Times from 2000-24. She is currently a Knight fellow at the Graduate School of Visual Communication at Ohio University. Previously, she was a staff photographer at the Kansas City Star. Orr served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Yap, Federated States of Micronesia. While there, she learned how to be a quiet observer and gained a love for stories. She was raised in Colorado and earned bachelor’s degrees in both history and art from the University of Saint Mary. In 2022, Orr received the coveted Dart Award for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma and the National Headliner Award. She also won the 2020 Meyer “Mike” Berger and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature photography in 2012.

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