Nearly 60 homeless people living in an encampment in Northeast Los Angeles were placed into temporary housing as part of a $6.3 million multi-jurisdictional initiative, it was announced Thursday.
During a news conference Thursday morning, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez announced 59 people entered care facilities following an encampment clean-up in Arroyo Seco. She said officials would work to move them all into permanent housing. As of Thursday, one had already been moved to such housing.
The clean-up operation addressed a four-mile stretch of the Arroyo Seco (110) Parkway, an area which has historically been difficult to reach and overlapped jurisdiction between the city, L.A. County and state.
Environmental hazards previously complicated efforts to address the area sooner, according to Hernandez’s office.
“This is what it looks like when we treat people with dignity and deliver real solutions, a testament to the collaboration between our local and state partners working to bring people indoors. Homelessness doesn’t end without a home, and we’ll keep pushing for the resources needed to scale this work and reach more of our neighbors,” Hernandez said in a statement.
The city and county partnered with Los Angeles Global Care, a primary interim housing provider, on the effort. The organization provides daily meals, pet accommodations, and hands-on case management for participants.
Case workers can help unhoused people acquire IDs and Social Security cards, which are needed to apply for permanent housing. Additional services such as medical care, crisis support and harm reduction are provided by California Street Medicine Collaborative, USC Street Medicine and county programs.
“Every resident deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and this effort shows what is possible when we come together to deliver compassionate, care-first solutions that bring our unhoused neighbors indoors and connect them to the services they need to thrive. This is the kind of progress our communities deserve, and we remain committed to carrying it forward,” county Supervisor Hilda Solis said in a statement.
Los Angeles Global Care is expected to connect some of the unhoused individuals to permanent housing within 120 days.
“Every now and then, we need a gentle reminder that the people experiencing homelessness deserve to experience the type of love that goes to battle alongside them, not against them,” Victor James, director of LA Global Care, said in a statement.
Money for the initiative came from the state’s encampment resolution funds.