Homeless for 14 Months, WeHo News Publisher Ryan Gierach Fought Shelter's Brutality

By: Gendy Alimurung | L.A. Weekly

The food was terrible, the men said. Never mind that it was free. Or that they were homeless, and beggars can't be choosers. The grumbling among residents at the PATH L.A. shelter — People Assisting the Homeless — at 340 N. Madison Ave. in the Rampart area might have gone on forever had Ryan Gierach not come into the mix.

Gierach is the publisher, editor and founder of the spunky little West Hollywood community blog WeHo News. He is a journalist and, two years ago, was an addict. "I was drinking way too much," he says. "The stress of publication was getting me down. I was putting my husband through school at the same time. Trying to sell ads and report and write." He checked into rehab. "I had no income. No money. I was a real broke drunk." He became one of the estimated 73,000 homeless people in L.A.