How can Los Angeles address its homelessness crisis?

The homelessness crisis in Los Angeles has grown worse since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. The city has seen an increase of homeless encampments and camps around communities since the beginning of the pandemic.

In 2020, the number of homeless individuals in L.A. County increased by 13 percent from the year before.

And experts fear the crisis could get even worse. A recent report by the Economic Roundtable estimates that over the next four years homelessness will increase by 86 percent in Los Angeles County.

According to the report, many businesses are shutting down leaving millions of people out of work and unable to make rent or afford housing which is very expensive in Los Angeles.

Alejandra Olguin works as a housing navigator for Haven Hills, an organization that assists domestic violence survivors. Since many people have lost their jobs during the pandemic, her program assists people who are unable to pay rent make their payments.

“Most individuals are homeless of course because the cost of living is so high,” Olguin says.

With the cost of living in Los Angeles continuing to increase, in order to reduce the amount of homelessness she says that “unless we find more affordable units and income based units, it’s just really hard.”

A Columbia University professor conducted an analysis predicting that homelessness across the United States could increase as much as 45% from the economic downfall caused by the pandemic. California is home to a quarter of the nation’s homelessess population, the L.A. Times reported

Homelessness has been an issue in Los Angeles for decades. The crisis largely began following World War II when the population increased and housing development could not keep up. Since then, homelesses has risen in LA from high rents and a shortage of affordable housing.

The city has attempted to fix the problem with more funding. In 2016 voters approved Proposition HHH which authorized city officials to construct up to $1.2 billion in supportive housing units for those experiencing homelessness.

Since its passage, the city has commenced 44 homeless housing projects with HHH dollars. By the end of this year, 44 more HHH projects should have funding to begin.

Recently, a U.S. District Judge released an order in Los Angeles to provide shelter to every homeless person on Skid Row within 180 days.

Governor Gavin Newsom launched Project Roomkey during the beginning of the pandemic in an effort to assist thousands of people experiencing homelesses by providing hotel rooms as temporary housing.

Despite the governor’s efforts to house homeless people, John Wheeler, who works in homeless outreach in Los Angeles, says that there are “not enough available resources to house everyone.”

He believes the key for homeless people to get into housing is to “have available resources.”

Wheeler says that putting homeless people in hotels is a good short term solution but that there also needs to be enough funding to help homeless people find permanent housing.

Los Angeles county officials have cited budget restraints and limited funds to pay for hotels. County officials hope to extend Project Roomkey but there is no guarantee of continuing the project due to funding restraints.

This story was produced by the following team: