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For Immediate Release ROSENDAHL, PERRY AND YAROSLAVSKY LOS ANGELES--Averting a major homeless crisis, city and county officials have banded together to save the emergency winter shelter program serving the Westside.
Councilmember Bill Rosendahl, Councilmember Jan Perry, and County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky worked with Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) to find additional funding and a new agency to run the program, which provides 310 shelter beds to the Westside each year from December to March. Until the officials intervened, it was likely there would have been no winter shelter program serving the homeless population on the Westside. The efforts by Rosendahl, Perry and Yaroslavsky meant the program was allowed to open December 3, just as overnight temperatures along the coast dropped to the low 40s. “The winter shelter program provides critical services on the Westside,” Rosendahl said. “We already have an immense shortage of shelters and resources for the homeless. Losing this program would have been devastating.” In August, LAHSA released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a new winter shelter operator. Due to the financial strains associated with operating a winter shelter program, many providers on the Westside were unable to respond to the request. Rosendahl and Perry brought the matter before the City’s Ad Hoc Committee on Homelessness and requested LAHSA to work with Westside providers to help remedy the situation. Ultimately, LAHSA selected Eimago, working in partnership with the Union Rescue Mission, to operate the program. Union Rescue Mission is a non-profit organization that serves homeless and poor men, women, and children in the downtown Los Angeles area. Rosendahl and Perry also secured an additional $30,000 to help fund the threatened winter shelter program. Yaroslavsky identified $20,000 in county funds. "It's a huge relief to know that working together with Councilmembers Rosendahl and Perry, we're now able to continue a program that quite literally has been a lifesaver over the years for the hundreds and hundreds of our vulnerable homeless population exposed to the elements in these cold winter months," County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said. Rosendahl worked successfully to maintain the program’s location, which was also imperiled this year. For years, the program has operated from the West Los Angeles Armory. This year, the program was almost bumped by National Guard training, but Rosendahl brokered negotiations with federal officials to secure the site for the winter shelter program. The new operator was honored to serve the Westside community and applauded Rosendahl, Perry, and Yaroslavsky for their commitment to ensuring the program was operational this year. “We are honored to have the opportunity to be of service to our community,” Carrie Gatlin, Union Rescue Mission said. “When Councilmembers Rosendahl and Perry gave us the opportunity to operate the winter shelter program on the Westside, we felt very strongly that it was our responsibility to take over a contract that no one else had the capacity to operate. We look forward to working with Councilmember Rosendahl, Supervisor Yaroslavsky, and LAHSA, and would like to thank them for their efforts in making sure this program was operational during the winter season.” The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) administers the City’s winter shelter program, which provides overnight shelter for the homeless each year between December and March. Service providers contract with LAHSA to operate the winter shelter program.
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