HOMELESSNESS

Our city faces a huge homelessness crisis. With over 80, 000 people homeless in Los Angeles, we have the largest homeless population for a major metropolitan area in the United States. Of that number, nearly 35,000 are considered chronically homeless.

As a social worker, I know that homelessness affects a wide variety of people. Due to the rising costs of housing and a limited job market, many people in Los Angeles are only one paycheck away from becoming homeless.

There many faces of homelessness: There are those who suffer from mental illness, or from drug addiction. There are working mothers and fathers unable to afford a decent home. There are children emancipated from our foster programs. There are women fleeing domestic violence. There are veterans of our armed forces unable to re-enter society and function as they once did.

Homelessness is a decades-old problem and demands immediate action. The magnitude of this social crisis is truly shameful. We must do more. Our brothers and sisters should not be without a basic necessity of life - shelter.

We need more services for our homeless and greater protection of the neighborhoods burdened by the impacts of homelessness. It is time for our government to focus new energy and attention to a problem that plagues our city. Along with some of my council colleagues, I have formed a special council committee to address these issues and develop solutions. Specifically, the committee is charged with:

Evaluating programs addressing homelessness in San Francisco, Santa Monica, and other cities, and making recommendations to the full council for a package of proposals, including timetables, for the City of Los Angeles.
Examining the potential availability and allocation of Proposition 63 funds to steer mentally ill homeless people into treatment.
Developing a strategy to lobby the federal government to create more housing and services for homeless veterans at Veterans Administration properties in Los Angeles.
Developing a comprehensive state and federal legislative program addressing homelessness, targeting available funds in Sacramento and Washington.
Proposing a program for expanding the number of shelter beds and shelter locations in Los Angeles.


Rosendahl, Perry and Yaroslavsky Save Winter Shelter Program, Avert Homeless Crisis	12/05/2007
ROSENDAHL AND PERRY CALL FOR ACTION ON HOMELESSNESS	10/21/2005

Last Updated: 05/12/2008 03:22:32 PM

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