Home of the Brave
How LA became the homeless veteran capital of the country
"Home of the Brave" is the story of the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs (VA), a nearly 400-acre campus donated to the federal government to house and care for disabled veterans. Once an idyllic haven for soldiers returning home, much of the land is now dilapidated or leased out to third parties, including a parking lot company, an oil drilling outfit, and a private high school. Meanwhile, Los Angeles has become the nation’s capital for veteran homelessness, with veterans dying just outside the VA gates.
Produced in collaboration with Long Lead—a story studio focused on in-depth, impactful, and independent journalism—the project takes a multipart, multimedia approach to examine how we arrived at this dire state of affairs.
The site’s style is immersive, clean, bold and engaging. Partnering with Decimal, we took an investigative epic of more than 35,000 words and made it digestible to users and visually compelling throughout.
Sarah Rogers, Long Lead Creative Director
Decimal
Alejandra Striuk
Alejandro Moscoso
Cherif Zouein
Guillermo Brotons
James Powell
Writing
Samuel Braslow
Jasper Craven
Gale Holland
Christian Martinez
Andrew Nusca
John Patrick Pullen
Editing
Emily Barone
Kelly Kennedy
Andrew Nusca
John Patrick Pullen
Glenn Stout
Creative Direction and Production
Sarah Rogers
Photo Research And Permissions
Amelia Lang
Drone Videography
Russell Midori
Video Editing
Kate Bennis
