Thread by @mikebonin

The LA Times looks at the Venice Beach Encampments to Homes program, which helped 211 people move indoors, and asks: ‘Can’t this happen all over the city’?

The answer is Yes.

Here’s a rundown of what we did, what we learned, and what we need. (thread)
latimes.com/opinion/story/…

The E2H program, a collaboration of agencies and run by @StJosephCtr, was designed as new approach to help our unhoused neighbors quickly and compassionately. It helped bust a pervasive and negative stereotype about homelessness and how to solve it

As the @latimes puts it, our work with Venice Beach Encampments to Homes disproves “the trope that homeless people living on the street are “service resistant.” Even people who professed their love of the view of the ocean from their tents left for brick and mortar housing.”

With @StJosephCtr, E2H is a model we first tried last year outside the Penmar Golf Course.

Instead of making people wait in an endless line for housing, the idea is to make *immediate concrete offers* to everyone in a specific place.
latimes.com/opinion/story/…

It’s hard to convince someone to trust the system when our city’s housing process is opaque and can take as long as a decade.

But when an outreach worker can promise non-congregate housing and deliver it quickly, almost everyone says yes.

Penmar was a learning experience. We housed over 70 people in 3 weeks -- but Council didn’t approve our motion to secure the permanent housing resources we needed.

There were amazing successes, but way too many people fell back into homelessness.
clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/202…

When we shifted to the Boardwalk, we knew we had to have interim hotel rooms, permanent rental vouchers, mental health workers, and everything else we needed for success set aside from the start.

Thanks to @MayorOfLA @SheilaKuehl and @mridleythomas, we got it all in place.

Our plan was months in the making. @MayorOfLA & I started working on this in March, when it became clear state and federal funds were coming. I made a motion in May to formally request the resources: bit.ly/3yrfbHr. Only after that did LASD show up.

To make E2H work, we needed one other thing -- trust.

Thanks to @StJosephCtr, outreach workers had been on the Boardwalk building relationships for months before the program officially began, getting people comfortable with making a successful move inside.

Now that we’ve housed over 200 people in motels, we’re focusing all our efforts on making sure they *stay housed permanently.*

It’s great that the boardwalk looks cleaner, but the real measure of success is finding permanent housing for everyone who was there.

157 of the 211 people in Encampments to Homes have already been matched to housing subsidies. The next step is finding apartments for every one of them.

Thankfully, we have the housing subsidies we need for these 211. But to replicate this across LA, we’ll need more resources.

The new CA budget includes $4.8 billion in new investments in homeless housing.

To fully take advantage of this spending, LA must invest more in rental subsidies to fund the operating costs.

Last week I intro’d a motion with @mridleythomas for LA to double its investment in flexible housing subsidies.

More rental assistance from the city, paired with supportive services from the County, would make a huge impact on LA’s homelessness crisis.
clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/202…

Finally, we need the federal government to play its part too.

We need @CoriBush’s Unhoused Bill of Rights, which would make housing vouchers a universal right for all who need them.

I intro’d a resolution yesterday to officially endorse this legislation.

Today, I visited former Venice Boardwalk residents at a local Project Homekey building in Venice. My heart swelled with their smiles and their pride and their hope.

When we lead with love and justice, we make real progress.

Thank you to the AMAZING staff of @StJosephCtr @LAHomeless @SafePlace4Youth @pathpartners @VeniceFamClinic @LACDMH and city & county agencies for their amazing work on E2H, and thanks to @MayorOfLA and @SheilaKuehl for the leadership and partnership that made it possible.