Opinion: Introducing ‘Hear Me Out,’ a video series featuring Times letter writers

Today we are starting a new video series, “Hear Me Out,” that will spotlight recent letters to the editor and let the writers tell their stories in greater depth.

Over the years, I’ve read letters from teachers, cops, doctors, nurses, pilots, Forest Service workers, lifeguards, diplomats, people living on the street, Holocaust survivors and people who long ago escaped authoritarian regimes. Readers from every walk of life have been eager to share their common experiences as well as their very different perspectives on the issues and events of the day. I’ve found that their stories often add another dimension to our journalism.

In “Hear Me Out,” letter writers talk about their views and the personal experiences that shape their opinions. Today’s video features Jura Adams, a psychiatrist, who wrote to us hoping to get help for a homeless man who assaulted her minister. It provides another window on the seemingly intractable homelessness crisis in Los Angeles.

Click here to read Adams’ letter and watch her video. See other videos and letters featured in “Hear Me Out” at latimes.com/letters.