![]() ![]() So far, Inside Safe has burned through nearly $40 million, city staff said during a committee meeting earlier this month. The city is leasing rooms in about three-dozen motels, paying between $100 and $125 a night, per room. “Or people who are like I have debilitating panic attacks or debilitating depression or PTSD or some sort of urgent medical issue.”Ĭost is another worry. “The thing that really just destroys me is I will talk to people every week, like Shayne, who says ‘I’m in chronic pain,’” Rehl said. Another guest at the hotel has a hernia so severe that she’s forced to use a wheelchair, Rehl said. Street Care who works with Smith and others at that motel, said Smith isn’t the only one whose needs aren’t being met. Kris Rehl, an organizer with outreach group L.A. Kris Rehl, an organizer with LA Street Care, at an encampment in Los Angeles on June 20, 2023. “As we have found problems, we are aggressively moving to address them.” “It was not acceptable to me to say, you know what, we’re not going to get people off the streets until we have figured out all of the issues,” Bass said in a phone interview. is the epicenter of California’s homelessness crisis, accounting for about a quarter of the state’s homeless population. And, home to more than 46,000 unhoused people per the city’s recently released point-in-time count, L.A. Conference of Mayors’ homelessness task force. She has outsized influence beyond Los Angeles as chair of the U.S. And it has the potential to serve as a model for other cities throughout California. Inside Safe was a major piece of the newly elected Bass’ campaign for mayor. “We have a real problem if the folks aren’t getting housed,” Councilman Bob Blumenfield, vice chair of the Housing and Homelessness Committee, said during a recent meeting. But only about 77 of those people – less than 6% – have moved from the hotels into permanent housing, frustrating officials as the number of unhoused people in the city continues to skyrocket. ![]() Since then, the city has completed close to two-dozen – moving 1,373 people into hotels as of earlier this month. The 101 overpass at Cahuenga Boulevard, cleared in December, was the first Inside Safe operation. And renting the hotel rooms is far too expensive for Los Angeles to keep it up indefinitely, leading some activists to worry participants may end up back on the street when the funding runs out.Ī homeless encampment in Los Angeles on June 20, 2023. Access to much-needed services, such as mental and physical health care, have been lacking. Now in its seventh month, Inside Safe has moved very few people from hotels into permanent housing – and the city is struggling to produce data on the program’s impact. And it means their case workers don’t have to trek all over the city looking for them.īut while Inside Safe has succeeded in putting a temporary roof over the heads of many of Los Angeles’ most vulnerable residents, the program has obvious shortcomings. Hotel rooms provide a safe place where residents can heal from the trauma of the street, get their documents in order and relearn how to live indoors. Advocates say it’s much easier to find long-term housing for people in hotel rooms than for people still in tents. It removes the sprawling encampments that, as the city’s most visible symptom of homelessness, spark never-ending complaints. Inside Safe has clear advantages over previous efforts to make a dent in L.A.’s homeless crisis. “It’s absolutely wonderful,” said Tim, who declined to provide his last name to protect his privacy. Inside Safe already has been a godsend for people like Tim and Sandy, who live in a condo about two blocks from the overpass and are relieved to see the now-spotless sidewalks. as one of six places to focus its homelessness efforts. And President Joe Biden’s administration picked L.A. ![]() Bass has all but staked her tenure as mayor on fighting Los Angeles’ homelessness crisis. There’s a lot riding on its success at a local, state and even national level. ![]()
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