Twenty-Six Unhoused People Were Housed And Connected To Services
By Dolores Quintana
Mayor Karen Bass and Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky have announced the implementation of an Inside Safe operation on San Vicente Boulevard between Wilshire Boulevard and La Cienega Boulevard in the Beverly Grove neighborhood. Inside Safe is Mayor Bass’ citywide, proactive housing-led strategy that aims to bring people living in tents and encampments inside and prevent encampments from returning. According to the press release on the subject, the program has successfully brought more than 1,000 Angelenos inside in 100 days. Mayor’s proposed budget includes $250 million to scale the program citywide.
LA City Councilmember Katy Yarovslavsky said, via her Facebook page on May 10, “Today we began an Inside Safe operation at the encampment on San Vicente. This has taken months of coordination, focus, and hard work.”
“I am thankful to Mayor Bass for her partnership, and grateful to the community for their patience while we worked to find a solution. There are no easy fixes when confronting homelessness, but I am proud that we are finally able to bring these individuals off the street and into interim housing.”
According to a video statement on Facebook, Councilmember Yaroslavskt said that twenty-six unhoused people from the encampment were brought into interim housing and arrangements were made to store some of their belongings that needed more space. In addition, as part of the program, the formerly unhoused people were connected to services that can hopefully keep them off the streets and from repopulating the encampment, which Yaroslavky noted was unsafe for the people in the encampment since some of the tents were in lanes of traffic.
Yaroslavsky also stated that there were a couple of people whom Inside Safe workers were still trying to connect to housing and services, so the project is still ongoing.
Mayor Bass stated, “I’m proud to partner with Councilwoman Yaroslavsky in bringing the Angelenos who had been living outside on San Vicente Boulevard inside. Inside Safe is a real solution that proves there is hope in Los Angeles. Together, we will confront this crisis by bringing unhoused Angelenos inside for good.”
Mayor Bass’s approach to confronting homelessness includes calling a state of emergency, accelerating development, lowering the cost of affordable and temporary housing, and maximizing the use of City-owned property for temporary and permanent housing.
Inside Safe has five goals:
- Reduce the loss of life on our streets
- Increase access to mental health and substance abuse treatment for those living in encampments
- Eliminate street encampments
- Promote long-term housing stability for people experiencing homelessness
- Enhance the safety and hygiene of neighborhoods for all residents, businesses, and neighbors
To learn more about Inside Safe, read the Inside Safe Executive Directive.
