Journalist Lisa Ling Honored for Reporting on Homelessness & Poverty

Journalist Lisa Ling Honored for Reporting on Homelessness & Poverty

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Shelter Partnership, a nonprofit organization working to end homelessness, honored journalist Lisa Ling at its 23rd Annual Dinner on July 31st. Over 400 supporters and civic leaders gathered at the historic Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles for the occasion. The evening fundraiser raised $390,000 to support Shelter Partnership's work. Ling is the executive producer and host of the popular documentary series "Our America with Lisa Ling" on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

Ling was honored for her insightful and compassionate reporting on the toughest issues confronting America, including the plight of people who are homeless. In "The Lost American Dream" episode of her "Our America" series, Ling reports on how America's middle class has emerged as the face of new poverty in the wake of the "Great Recession." Ling effectively captures the pain felt by a struggling middle class and the widening population of Americans living on the edge. Poverty, unemployment or a lost job and the lack of affordable housing are primary causes of families experiencing homelessness.

"Lisa's reporting puts a human face to poverty and the related challenges that lead families or individuals to homelessness. It is easy to dismiss poverty or homeless statistics as just numbers when in fact every number represents a mother, son or daughter, a veteran or a senior citizen," shared Ruth Schwartz, executive director of Shelter Partnership.

For 27 years Shelter Partnership, Inc. has contributed technical assistance, public policy and resources toward ending homelessness. The organization also operates the S. Mark Taper Foundation Shelter Resource Bank, which distributed $8.2 million in donated new goods and materials to 230 agencies serving the homeless and very poor in the last year.

"I am so honored and humbled to have been chosen by Shelter Partnership for this award," remarked Ling. "Shelter Partnership supports over 200 agencies and organizations serving the homeless in Los Angeles. Their work addresses the immediate needs of homeless shelters and the longer-term housing polices needed to end homelessness. There is no organization like it in L.A."

About Lisa Ling
Lisa Ling got her start in journalism as a correspondent for "Channel One News" where she covered the civil war in Afghanistan at 21 years of age. She later went on to become a co-host of ABC Daytime's hit show "The View," which won its first daytime Emmy during her time at the show.

Ling was a special correspondent for CNN's "Planet in Peril" series and a field correspondent for "The Oprah Winfrey Show." She is the co-author of "Somewhere Inside: One Sister's Captivity in North Korea and the Other's Fight to Bring Her Home," which she penned with her sister, Laura.

For photos of the event, including Lisa Ling, please visit http://www.shelterpartnership.org/dinner/default.aspx

SOURCE Shelter Partnership

CONTACT: Ruth Schwartz, Shelter Partnership, +1-213-446-4538, rschwartz@shelterpartnership.org, or Domenic Morea, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, +1-323-602-5516, domenic_morea@own.tv

Web Site: http://www.shelterpartnership.org

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