LOS ANGELES — Ron Roberson is today a picture of success. He is a news anchor for CNN Headline Local News, has his own production company, and is a Christian Minister with his own congregation in the city of Montebello.
Roberson came from a most humble and tortured beginning. Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, he lacked a loving atmosphere at home during his childhood. What he received instead was an environment of fear and abuse from an alcoholic father who tortured him.
While searching for a sense of family through joining various groups, he ended his journey a completely lost and homeless person on Skid Row where he went to die.
"This is where I found the true and living God, as I was prepared to jump from the seventh floor window of the Frontier Hotel. God spoke to me and said, 'You've tried everything, now try me.'" Today, God has given Roberson a burden for the hurting, homeless, hungry and the youth.
In Part II Ron discussed his life with drugs on Skid Row and his experiences in Mexico.
We continue our interview with him in the third of four parts.
ET : The number of homeless is increasing. Have there been any improvements to help the homeless in your opinion?
RR : I do have my fingers on the pulse on what is going on down there. To me it is getting worse in downtown Los Angeles, especially after a brand new multi-million dollar midnight mission was built down there to house even more people that are homeless.
I think that there are a lot of people that embrace Skid Row and can't function without it, and some are like prisoners that have become institutionalized. Secondly, there are a group of people that are mentally disturbed that have not gotten the medical help to get them out of there. And then there is the system.
You can quote me on this, I don't bite my tongue, I believe that the system is setup to be a revolving door. I believe that a lot of that is due to job security, they only give them so much to survive. There are no real programs that deal with transitional living. Don't get me wrong, the missions do a great job and have great programs. They go through 9- and 12-month programs and come off of drugs and all that kind of stuff.
Then most of them are released right down there in the hotels and those kind of places but don't have any kind of jobs and most can't make it transitionally from the downtown area into mainstream society because they don't function well. A lot of times the missions don't release them for outside places because they end up working for the missions.
But when you wake up to that stench and to those drugs and attitudes and the craziness of it all, it is hard to get out of there man and not to use again. My thing was that the minute I started making a few dollars, I moved up out of the Skid Row area into another nearby fleabag hotel. It took me out of the drama of the Skid Row area; as I think it is a revolving door.
I think a lot of people will always be down there, because the system will keep them there. They will only give them so much and they will start this whole thing all over again. There is a lot of money to be made downtown and a lot of folks don't understand that and whenever you find a lot of money you're going to find a lot of evil. I really believe that there should be some things in tact that we could do to help that growing population of men, women, and children, to get out of the area.
ET : When you talk about money to be made, are you talking about drugs?
RR : Well no. I am talking about legitimate money as it relates to missions and outreaches. There are a lot of organizations and foundations and grants that are written to help support all of that stuff, people are making money down there, believe it or not, that money does not always go to where it is intended.
I cannot give you any personal scenarios or anything, but I do know that hunger is not a problem downtown; a place to stay is not a problem downtown. There are plenty of places to stay, to eat, and to get clothing. But there is an element missing down there that needs to be addressed, and I don't see it being done in a large enough scale to combat the problem. I think it is more of a band-aid approach.
When I first came into the cable business and was ready to go to work as an intern, I asked them where they wanted me to start. They gave me a broom and told me to start over here in the corner.
I grabbed that broom and swept like I did not have any sense that I was in a studio. At lunchtime, I ran across the street and grabbed some Windex and paper towels and started doing the glass just to stay in.
Now the same people who gave me the broom, I'm their supervisor and I teach them about production. So, you can do anything but you have to start somewhere, and you are not going to start on top.
ET : How did you start Miracle Productions?
RR : Miracle Productions is my private production company, I am self-taught. I've learned everything on my own. I learned how to edit, non-linear editing. I learned how to do my own camera, and all of that I learned through the cable industry.
Continental was the agency at the time that worked the southeast cities area, and I came in. Once again, I swept. I was the guy that kept everything clean, nobody wanted to let me in to do anything, and finally the city of Downey needed somebody to come out and shoot.
I had been watching for months and finally my break came and I went out to shoot it and did a great job and they liked it, and so I have been with it ever since.
So I learned everything by watching, asking questions, and reading manuals, and the good Lord blessed me with a bit of creativity, and an eye.
I formed Miracle Productions and through that we have worked with Isaac Hayes, Chocolate Time, Doug E. Fresh, Lisa Marie Presley.
Just a list, a lot of people, that we have done different things for that relate to banquets, engagements, weddings, we just did it all, and that I do also in relationship in working with cable.
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