Without current funding, unsheltered homelessness could rise 28% across LA County–more than 57,400 would lose services and housing
INGLEWOOD — New data shows that without new voter-approved homelessness funding, nearly 15,000 more people could experience unsheltered homelessness in South Los Angeles and the South Bay due to lost housing and services. The funding cuts would result in a 28% rise in unsheltered homelessness across LA County.
“We’ve learned through our conversations with community members that folks are feeling anxious with so much on the ballot this year. So many families are housing burdened throughout LA County, with a potential for nearly 15,000 more people, majorly Black Angelenos, on our streets in the South Bay and South LA ,” said Derek Steele, Executive Director of the Social Justice Learning Institute in Inglewood. “It is crucial that we find ways to accelerate the availability of affordable housing and create mental health and substance abuse prevention services that meet the needs of our communities. Measure A has the elements for us to address the root causes of our county’s housing crisis and improve conditions all across LA County.”
As a part of their community wide voter education work, the Social Justice Learning Institute is educating the community about Measure A, the countywide citizen’s initiative, on the November 5 ballot to replace Measure H and protect funding for life-saving housing and services.
Data from the LA County Homeless Initiative projects that within a year of Measure H’s expiration and loss of the programs it funds, more than 57,400 people may become unsheltered across LA County.
“Everybody deserves a home and my team is working everyday to make this a reality for our unhoused neighbors,” said Veronica Lewis, Director of the Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System (HOPICS). “Measure A allows us to build on what we’ve learned, build more affordable housing and make sure the people we serve and our workforce are taken care of. Without it, homelessness could increase 28%, and marginalized people and communities will suffer the most.”
HOPICS is one of the many organizations ending homelessness for thousands of people through current programs that would end when funding expires.
An assessment of the number of people served by current programs shows what would be lost within each region of Los Angeles County.
In addition to supporting organizations like HOPICS, Measure A includes new funding for prevention, affordable housing, and increased accountability. It would raise an estimated $1.1 billion per year to create more affordable housing, provide mental health care, and fund homelessness prevention programs through a half-cent sales tax that repeals and permanently replaces the quarter-cent tax of Measure H.
“Now is the time to rein in the high cost of housing in LA County and with independent audits and strict community oversight, Measure A puts us on a path with clear goalposts to reducing homelessness and creating more housing we can afford. Let’s lock arms and lean into taking care of the most vulnerable in our communities,” said Steele.
