PATH To Operate Programs in Glendale

The City Council in Glendale, recently approved PATH to operate the city’s homeless service programs. This includes a 40-bed transitional housing program, street outreach teams, homeless access center, and support services. Here's an article about this.

The programs were formerly operated by the Institute for Urban Research and Development, until they decided to concentrate on building permanent affordable housing.

PATH will begin operating these programs in July 2006.

Mayor Makes Final Appointment to LAHSA Commission

Here’s what the L.A. Times wrote yesterday about the appointment:
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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Wednesday named the executive director of a downtown business association to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority board.

Estela Lopez heads the Central City East Assn., which represents businesses and property owners in and around downtown's skid row. Villaraigosa also has nominated Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, to the board. The council is scheduled to consider the mayor's nominees to the board by the end of the month.

In 1999, while Ripston was director, the ACLU sued the Central City East Assn. and its security contractor, contending they were violating the civil rights of the homeless because they were removing transient people's personal items from the sidewalk. As part of a settlement, security guards may now take abandoned items to a storage center in the neighborhood, Lopez said.
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Thanks to Downtown Central City East blogger for the picture... Downtown Central City East.

The Ghost of Margaret Mitchell Still Haunts Us Today

Six years ago, while pushing a cart down a Los Angeles street, Margaret Mitchell was shot dead by a police officer. She was homeless and struggled with mental illness.

Today, society continues to struggle with enforcing the law with persons who are mentally ill. Some get shot and die. Like the man on the American Airlines flight this week.

With an unhealthy percentage of people who are homeless struggling with mental illness, it only makes sense that we help law enforcement officers deal with homeless mentally ill people. Or else more will die. Here's an article.

I describe Ms. Mitchell’s encounter in my book:
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Her name was Margaret. She was a typical homeless woman pushing an old shopping cart overflowing with her life’s possessions as she trekked through an upper-class neighborhood of Los Angeles filled with L.A.’s old moneyed families. She stood barely five feet tall and weighed a mere 100 pounds. She was no threat to anyone except those who might feel she was a quality of life annoyance in a neighborhood wishing that all those homeless people would stop invading their tree-lined avenues, nicely groomed lawns, and obscenely large homes.

Margaret Mitchell was an elderly woman who had been detached from her family for years, and ended up living on the streets. She was clearly overcome by phantoms lodged in her mental consciousness that haunted her very being. She strolled down the boulevard pushing her supermarket shopping cart when a couple of law enforcement officers on bicycles stopped her. They thought she might be possessing a stolen cart. The usual offense for a person who was homeless.

Being homeless, disoriented, and haunted by demons were her only crimes. But unfortunately, Margaret made a fatal mistake by reaching in her cart for a screwdriver. Why would she make such a threatening response with officers carrying arms, you might ask? Didn’t she know that you don’t make aggressive moves toward armed police officers? Easy for those of us who are mentally stable to say.

So the officers, obviously not following policy but feeling threatened nevertheless, pulled out their pistols and fatally shot the crazy woman. Her death caused an uproar among angry homeless activists who all along had felt that society had criminalized homeless people. Death is an inappropriate penalty for a homeless person trying to reach for a screwdriver in her cart. Candlelight vigils and angry marches marked this sad occasion.

Project Y!MBY Is Successful

Today, over 250 people living on the streets of Hollywood were able to connect to services. Over 200 community volunteers personally helped people access services like mental health, employment, homeless court, and even massages. Over 30 service providers participated.

The morning rally was led by honorary Hollywood Mayor Johnny Grant, Mayor Villaraigosa, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Director Philip Mangano, County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, West Hollywood Mayor Land, State Assemblyman Koretz, and L.A. Councilmember LaBonge.



This Project Y!MBY Connect Day was Los Angeles County’s version of rallying the community to help the homeless. Cities throughout the country performed their own version of Homeless Connect Day. Here's more information on this day.

Santa Monica Hires Edmund Edelman To Be Homeless Liaison

Former Los Angeles City Councilmember and Los Angeles County Supervisor Edmund Edelman will take the one-year contract to lead the city of Santa Monica’s efforts to address homelessness on the Westside. Here's an article on this.

He was recommended by outgoing Santa Monica City Manager Susan McCarthy.

“I look forward to building a coalition of elected officials, community and business leaders, faith-based representatives, and non-profit providers,” said Edelman. “We have a unique opportunity at this time to make a real impact on the problems of the homeless and the effects of homelessness in Santa Monica and countywide.

“While this is a challenging assignment, I am encouraged by the work-in-progress in Santa Monica and the recent attention to the issue among top officials in the both the city of L.A. and Los Angeles County.”

Councilmember Garcetti’s Perspective on Homelessness & Housing

In his recent e-newsletter, L.A. Councilmember Eric Garcetti puts the rise of homelessness into financial perspective:
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At the Mayoral Housing Summit at the UCLA Anderson School, sponsored by the Los Angeles Business Council, Mayor Villaraigosa announced his support of a $1 billion bond to finance solutions to the housing crisis. I've discussed the idea of a housing bond with my colleagues, with housing advocates, and with business leaders—the business community has been especially creative in promoting a bond. I was thrilled to hear the mayor's support.

I have no doubt that the time has come for dramatic solutions. Just look at the statistics around housing costs in Los Angeles:
• Average home price in Los Angeles County, September 2005: $494,000
• Monthly payments on such a house, assuming 10% down, 6% interest, and 30-year fixed rate: $2,665/month
• Maximum portion of income under federal guidelines that should go to housing needs: 1/3
• Salary required to afford such a house under that guideline: $96,000/yr
• Average rent for an apartment, Los Angeles County, September 2005: $1,441/month
• Full-time wage required to afford such an apartment under federal guideline: $27/hr
• Occupancy rate for rental housing in Los Angeles: 97%

So how can a billion-dollar bond help us out of our housing crisis? The fact of the matter is, Los Angeles is a proven leader at financing innovative affordable housing projects. We've demonstrated that we can build new projects to house working families in a mostly-built out city. We can invest wisely and we can design 'smart'.

Investing funds from our city's affordable housing trust fund in tandem with the state funds, we have funded more than 3,500 units of affordable housing in the past three years.

$100 million in city funds have leveraged $600 million in outside funds combining county, state, federal and private sources.

Although Los Angeles holds only one-tenth of California's population, our ability to add our own financing won us one-third of the Prop 46 funds at stake. We demonstrated the need, we demonstrated the means, and now we're seeing the product.

And is $1 billion too high a number? Just considering the homeless problem alone, I can tell you that it is not. With $100 million a year over ten years, we could begin to house the 91,000 people who nightly sleep on the streets of Los Angeles County. Jan Perry and I have passed legislation to keep shelters open around the year, but stop-gap measures are not permanent solutions.

The mayor led on homelessness too, promising to increase the housing trust fund by $50 million. This money would go primarily into projects serving low-income and formerly homeless individuals. These are the people who live in the cold borderlands between a slipping hold on an apartment and the cold, hard streets. With targeted attention to these projects, we can increase the options that have disappeared between the $494,000 home and the shelter bed. We can give people hope.

ACLU’s Lawsuit Against City Was Heard Yesterday

Yesterday, a federal appeals panel heard arguments from a lawyer for the ACLU of Southern California stating that city of Los Angeles ordinances against sleeping, lying, or sitting on public sidewalks is illegal if there are not enough shelter beds. Here's the article.

This lawsuit was filed back in February 2003. It is amazing how long it takes to process a lawsuit, especially when it affects the lives of people sleeping on the streets.

The three-judge panel will issue a decision in the near future.

Many are upset that the ACLU is suing the city—basically allowing homelessness to persist on the streets. However, the ACLU perspective is that there are not enough shelters for the homeless. That the city has an obligation to house its homeless. The reality is that without enough shelter beds, people will continue to sleep on the streets—whether the ACLU sues the city or not.

The timing of this panel hearing is also interesting… ACLU Executive Director goes before the Los Angeles City Council next Wednesday. They will be voting on her appointment to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority commission. I’m sure this lawsuit will be discussed there.

Homeless Mom: “We’re Not Losers!”

Here’s a heart-wrenching response sent to this blog yesterday:
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Hello,

It is wonderful work that you do - and us homeless thank you. I have been in the Santa Clarita area for over a year and I am still homeless with my 2 children. I am not alone. There are 3 other Mothers with me that are also homeless with children. We have been lucky enough to have rooms at a roadside motel.

I just want to say that we are not prostitutes, drug users, or losers. We are woman that have been abused or had hard times that landed us in this situation. If this city would open it's eyes you would see all of the Hotels / Motels in this area are packed with families that have fallen on hard times. When the four of us woman discussed the Santa Clarita Homeless Shelter, we came to the conclusion that we didn't want to go there for fear of being embarrassed or singled out.

So every month we struggle for our last week of rent - selling our clothes, collecting cans, etc.

I would like to know why the laws are so stringent on renting mobile homes? Or what about trailer parks? They have all but been eliminated from this area. I understand that nobody wants "trailer trash" in their backyard, but I don't see that this area offers ANY affordable housing.

The only apartment building in Acton, has two convicted sex offenders living at it so it counts as a multiple offender location. Please tell me where I can go with my 2 daughters to live on an income of $720.00 a month? Oh yeah, according to Public Social Services, I am only allowed to spend 85% of that $720.00 on rent!

THIS IS A TRAP THAT MANY PARENTS HAVE FALLEN INTO! Thank the Lord that the owner of this Motel has kept it affordable. He should be given the credit and funding from the city for keeping so many of us off the street.

This area has done a great job making us all feel uncomfortable. One quick note: The Homeless Survey that was taken last year - well none of us were included in it. I don't think the people doing the count even stopped in Santa Clarita!

Thank you,
Respectfully,
Michelle

San Diego Plans Its Own Homeless Connect Day

Like Los Angeles and a dozen other cities throughout the country, San Diego will also be hosting their own version of Project Homeless Connect Day this Thursday.

San Diego will have their event at one of their Winter Shelter programs. They will try to connect each of the shelter residents with services. Here's an article on their event.

Here in Los Angeles, we will have our version, called: Project Y!MBY Connect Day (Yes! In My Backyard). We will have it in Hollywood. Our goal will be to connect at least 300 people who are currently living on the streets of greater Hollywood with services and housing.

The community leaders who will be at this event are: Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa, L.A. County Supervisor Yaroslavsky, West Hollywood Mayor Land, L.A. Councilmember LaBonge, and federal Interagency Council on Homelessness Director Mangano. The honorary Hollywood Mayor Johnny Grant will be there as the co-event chair.

Join us for the volunteer rally at 8:30 AM this Thursday, December 8th at 815 North El Centro in Hollywood.

L.A.’s Winter Shelter Program Started December 1st

From December 1st to March 15th of each year, nearly 2,000 additional homeless beds are made available for those seeking shelter from the winter season.

Shelter facilities are located throughout Los Angeles County. So if you know of someone who needs a bed, call the Shelter Hotline phone number at: (800) 548-6047. The hotline provides information on pick up locations.

Homelessness: Personal Responsibility or Community Responsibility?

A letter in the Whittier Daily News today asks a simple, but cutting, question (Here's the article.):

“While we ask the homeless to take personal responsibility, are other local communities in the county demonstrating their community responsibility?”

We blame the person on the streets for all of his or her problems. “You chose to take drugs!” “You left your family!” “You messed up your life!”

It’s easier to point accusatory fingers at the problem than try to solve it. But the problem with finger pointing is that nothing gets done except for verbal or mental accusations. So the problem persists. And increases.

I remember a supporter of PATH, a few years ago, who happened to be a well-known news person, wanted PATH to only help those homeless who became homeless “through no fault of their own.” Those are the only people we should help, he said. I told him that if we did just that, we would never solve homelessness.

So rather than play the blame game, our community needs to look at itself. The only way we are going to resolve this county-wide (country-wide, for that matter) problem is for every community in the county to take responsibility. Whether we feel its people’s fault or not, our communities must also take responsibility to help.

Otherwise, we become a Third World urban city where homelessness and poverty becomes rampant.

NY City Officials: Less Need For Homeless Shelters In New York

While Los Angeles is overwhelmed with the need for additional emergency and permanent housing for its homeless population, the same need in the city of New York has been reduced by 16%.

Los Angeles’s recent numbers reveal that out of the 91,000 people who are homeless, only about 15% of the population are housed. That means tens of thousands of people on the streets of Los Angeles have no place to go.

In New York City, 32,200 people are being housed in the city’s shelter system. That is a reduction of 16% since 2003, when they were housing 38,310 people. Here's the article.

Why a reduction in New York’s shelter use?

It depends on who you talk to. But city officials say that emergency shelter use is decreasing because they are putting new emphasis on building permanent housing solutions instead. They state that the “Housing First” model is working.

Homeless advocates in New York say that the reduction of Section 8 Public Housing certificates is the real reason for this decreasing number. Many of the city’s homeless families were using Section 8 vouchers, and because the federal government has reduced these, families are losing their housing options.

Los Angeles, however, has a completely different situation. There are so many people in the region that are in need of housing, that a reduction of emergency shelter use is a long way off. Every day, by mid-afternoon in Los Angeles, practically every shelter bed in the system is in use.

That means if you are homeless in Los Angeles, and are searching for an emergency bed, if you have not found anything by mid-afternoon, you are out of luck.