By Local leaders are seeking to cut the number of unsheltered homeless people in half by the time the Olympics come to Los Angeles in 2028, a goal with legal ties to a recent lawsuit settlement.
Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and Hollywood 4WRD, a coalition that works to end homelessness in the area, held a summit to explore ways to halve the unsheltered homeless population by the 2028 L.A. Olympics.
On Sept. 18, the two entities hosted a two-panel event at Television City Studios in Hollywood for attendees to hear from leaders in the interim housing world. “Temporary” is the focus of interim housing projects and corporations, working to provide the unhoused population with temporary shelters.
In March 2020, the L.A. Alliance For Human Rights sued the city and county of L.A. demanding officials to address the rising homelessness crisis. Three settlements have been reached in the ongoing lawsuit.
- L.A. County is required to create 3,500 new beds for mental health treatment.
- City of L.A. is required to create 6,700 new beds for those living near freeways and underpasses.
- City of L.A. is required to create new shelters for 60% of the unsheltered homeless population by May 2027. This translates to about 13,000 new units of shelter.
Wednesday’s panel included Paul Cho, CEO of Life Ark, a company that builds housing from recycled plastics. Life Ark has especially been present in the Amazon, providing floating shelters for Indigenous populations that have been displaced from their homes due to flooding.
Life Ark, like many other companies present at the panel, has turned its attention to L.A. in an attempt to reach the goals stated in the settlement.
“While a lot of time and energy has been spent tackling homelessness, it really needs to be sped up with the L.A. Olympics coming in 2028,” Cho said. “The easy way out for the city and county is to try to push the homeless aside. We’ve seen a number of Olympic cities do that.”
Cho said he believes the goal of halving unsheltered homelessness by 2028 is realistic and attainable. “I’ve seen when people are working towards the same goals and how quickly things can happen,” Cho said.
Other attendees thought differently, including Alicia Galvez who has worked at seven different homeless shelters and serves as the Aviva Family and Children’s services director for interim supportive housing.
“It’s an ambitious goal, I don’t know how realistic it is. There’s an increase of immigrants coming into California and homeless services aren’t designed for undocumented folk. As case managers we don’t even have the legal knowledge to guide them through the system,” Galvez said.
While the focus continues to be providing temporary shelter for the unhoused population in order to decrease street homelessness, others felt the panelists missed the mark in terms of priorities.
“They’re focusing on the housing which is hieroglyphics to a homeless person,” said Esiquio Reyes, who dealt with being unhoused for over 20 years. “I believe they have the means to help because I was helped. But they’re not looking at it realistically.”
According to Reyes, food remains the number one necessity that most unhoused people lack, causing serious detriment to mental and physical health.
“Food is the biggest factor I’ve seen speeding up mental health problems in the homeless population. It’s killed several of my friends over the years,” Reyes said. “Even when we’re housed the food still isn’t up to par.”
Reyes spoke to the panelists stressing the importance of consistent hot meals for the unhoused. Despite this, local leaders remain focused on improving temporary shelters and getting more unhoused people indoors.
