By City News Service
Feb 1, 2021
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The federal judge overseeing attempts to resolve the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles has called an urgent meeting for Thursday at a Skid Row women s center to discuss worsening conditions and the poor official response to the recent rainfall that created an “extraordinarily harsh situation downtown.
Combined with the COVID-19 pandemic and soaring mental health and substance abuse issues among those living on the streets, homelessness in the region could be likened to “a significant natural disaster in Southern California with no end in sight, U.S. District Judge David Carter wrote in an order filed late Sunday in federal court.
Two Los Angeles City Council members introduced a motion today to expand Project Roomkey, which uses vacant hotel and motel rooms to house people experiencing homelessness.
An executive order signed by President Biden last week changed federal funding rules in a way that could potentially lift thousands of homeless Angelenos off the streets as the coronavirus continues to rage.
Local elected officials hope a shift in how the Federal Emergency Management Agency reimburses municipalities will breathe new life into an effort to rent hotel rooms for homeless people who are vulnerable to the virus and struggle to isolate.
“This is a huge opportunity. This is like manna from heaven,” said Councilman Mike Bonin, who on Tuesday introduced a motion asking the city to explore options for renting more hotel rooms. He thinks the city should be thinking of renting thousands or tens of thousands of rooms.
Reply
Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas authored the motion. (Shutterstock)
LOS ANGELES, CA City Council Tuesday voted to begin building a center in Koreatown that will consolidate homeless outreach efforts between the city and county. The council unanimously decided to direct the Department of General Services to investigate leases, license agreements and similar requirements for the city to create a center at 510 S. Vermont Ave.
According to the motion introduced by Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, the Center for Interagency Policy and Action on Homelessness would serve as headquarters for the city to coordinate its homeless outreach efforts with the Los Angeles County departments of Mental Health, Workforce Development and Aging and Community Services.
A transformation is underway inside the Los Angeles Convention Center as members of the National Guard set up dozens of beds, preparing the center for use as a federal field hospital in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Sheltering our population experiencing homelessness is an urgent priority for the city. The 2020 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, published by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority on July 20, 2020, reported that 41,290 individuals were experiencing homelessness in the city, an increase of 16.1 percent over 2019, the motion reads. Of this group, 28,852 individuals are unsheltered.
The convention center, located at 1201 S. Figueroa St. in downtown Los Angeles, is owned by the city and managed by the Convention and Tourism Department.