Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council (GWNC) board members heard from local officials from the City, County and LAPD who presented an update on the homeless in our local neighborhoods at last night’s neighborhood council meeting.
GWNC Area 6 Board Member and Homelessness Liaison Tammy Rosato reported the following homeless count by Neighborhood Councils in Wilshire Division:
111 – Greater Wilshire
246 – Mid City West
111 – Mid City
419 – Pico
164 – United Neighborhoods
62 – Olympic Park
Rosato added that *LAHSA, LAPD and EmpowerLA maps and borders are all slightly different so all totals are approximate estimations.
Rosato also presented the following highlights from the count taken in January:
- 58,936 homeless in County of Los Angeles — a 12% increase
- 36,300 homeless in City of Los Angeles — a 16% increase
- 72% of Prop HHH funds are committed to build 5,303 units
- Approximately 1,400 housing units scheduled to open in fiscal 2019-20
- 10,000+ units in the pipeline (committed with projected funding)
- 800+ Outreach staff with expertise in physical, mental health and substance abuse Veteran homelessness slightly decreased
- Families experiencing homelessness increased 6.4%
- Youth homelessness increased 24%
- Senior homeless increased by 8%
- Majority of people experiencing homelessness have lived in LA County for more than 10 years
More details on the count can be found here.
Following Rosato’s introduction, staff from several local government offices and LAPD told GWNC board members what each of their offices are doing to support a coordinated response to helping homeless people in the area. The representatives speaking included:
- Fernando Morales, Field Deputy for Supervisor Kuehl
- Erin Schneider, Field Deputy for Supervisor Kuehl
- Rob Fisher, Field Deputy for Councilmember Ryu
- Kevin Nahai, Field Deputy for Councilmember Koretz
- Sgt. Ken Price in charge of SLO’s for LAPD Wilshire
- SLO Hebel Rodriquez, LAPD Wilshire
Officers Rodriquez and Price told board members that efforts to clean up encampments are intended to clean up the area, but not necessarily remove the encampments. They explained that LAPD now has a unified homeless command, under which the department is part of the city and county’s shared responsibility to bring resources and help to the homeless, not simply relocate them to another area.
Rosato and other speakers urged neighbors to use the Los Angeles Homeless Outreach Portal (LA Hop) to call for services for someone who may need help.
HOMELESS SERVICES & RESOURCES
LA-HOP – Los Angeles Homeless Outreach Portal
Did you see someone experiencing homelessness that needs help? Notice a homeless neighbor who seems to be struggling with their physical and/or mental health? You can help them by filling out an outreach request here: www.la-hop.org
If you are concerned about illegal activity, contact law enforcement. For all non-emergencies, call 1-877-ASK-LAPD or 911 for medical and mental health emergencies or when the individual appears to be a danger to themselves or others.
For encampments, download the MyLA311 app to make a service request, or call 311. Encourage your neighbors to file the same request.
If you have taken these steps and the issue has not been resolved, please contact your LAPD – Senior Lead Officer.
Click here for Wilshire Division OR click here for Olympic Division; And your Field Deputy at your Council District office can be found here: https://empowerla.org/council-districts-map/
Your SLO and Field Deputy can work together to help deploy HOPE – Homeless Outreach Proactive & Empowerment with the Dept. of Sanitation. In October 2019 CARE teams will be deployed by Council District.
The City will no longer rely solely on a case-by-case, complaint-driven model for cleanups. Instead neighborhood based comprehensive Cleaning And Rapid Engagement teams will use data-driven tools to provide public health services to encampments, identify areas of highest need, and ensure the hardest hit areas receive regularly scheduled cleanups and hygiene services. All will be coordinated downtown by the Mayor’s new UHRC – Unified Homeless Response Center.
To learn more about the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and the 2019 homeless count: https://www.lahsa.org
Opportunities to volunteer & donate:
https://everyoneinla.org
https://www.storiesfrontline.org
http://midtownlahomelesscoalition.org
https://www.safeparkingla.org
http://thecenterinhollywood.org
https://www.alexandriahouse.org
Finally, if you have further questions, or would like more information on ways to engage or identify resources in the area, Rosato, who is also the GWNC Homelessness Liaison, can be reached at [email protected]
In other business last night, the GWNC voted to form an Ad Hoc Resilience Committee, chaired by its Resilience Liaison, Conrad Starr, Area 11 (Sycamore Square) Board Member, who was tasked with developing organizing documents for the new committee. The committee is a response to Mayor Garcetti’s request that Neighborhood Councils to draft Resilience Plans for emergency preparedness, climate change, and to assess economic security and social vulnerability in their respective neighborhoods.
The GWNC also voted to seat Joy McManus to the Area 8 (Melrose) Alternate Board Member seat, and Daniela Prowizor-Lacayo to the Area 1 (Brookside) Alternate Board Member seat.
The GWNC also voted unanimously to approve two motions presented by its Land Use Committee.
First, the board voted to oppose as currently presented the CUB renewal application for the 7-Eleven at 5279 W. Olympic Blvd., pending further neighborhood outreach. The board also voted to oppose as currently presented the project located at 726-732 S. Wilton Place, pending community outreach, a landscape plan, and an updated site plan. (Both the LUC and the GWNC board often take initial votes to oppose applications after an initial review as a signal to applicants that more work needs to be done to win the board’s full approval. Applicants are encouraged to return for a review and re-vote once their board’s requested actions or outstanding issues have been addressed.)
The next meeting of the GWNC Board will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 11, 2019 at The Ebell of Los Angeles, 743 S. Lucerne Boulevard, following a free 6:30 p.m. Town Hall presentation by LA Sanitation on its Biodiversity Pilot Program.
This story was updated August 17, 2019 with information on the LA-Hop program.
