$100 Million Dollars In The Bank

I spent most of the day today at the L.A. County Board meeting.

In an historic vote today, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 1 to approve their Homeless Prevention Initiative. The county plan contains numerous proposals including an $80 million housing trust fund, five regional homeless centers, homeless and “prototype” courts, housing assistance and database, rental subsidy for General Relief recipients, and a family access center in downtown.

Here is part of my public comments to the board today:

“This new Homeless Prevention Initiative could be a significant and historical response to the sad state of homelessness in Los Angeles County.

“Each afternoon we play a tragic human game of “musical chairs.” But it is really more like “musical beds.” By 1 PM each day, every homeless shelter bed in the county is full because for every one bed in the system more than 6 homeless people are desperately fighting to access it.

“The first-responders to this crisis of homelessness are the nonprofit homeless agencies who by the afternoon have to turn away everyone looking for a safe place to sleep. We turn away women and infants, veterans who fought in past wars, and senior citizens rolling to our doors in wheelchairs. There is no place to send them.

“I believe this is an historical time for you and our community. When we dramatically reduce, and ultimately end homelessness in Los Angeles County, people will look back to this day and this decision as the ‘tipping point’ toward a new social movement to help the most vulnerable people in Los Angeles County—the homeless.”