The Homeless Crisis in Los Angeles

Growing up in Los Angeles, seeing homeless people out and about became a part of everyday life. Since they were so common, I never realized how serious the issue was. It wasn’t until one day that I went to downtown Los Angeles and drove by Skid Row. I’ll never forget that day because it opened my eyes to the harsh reality of homelessness. After seeing the hundreds of tents lined up in rows from one block to the other I could only ask myself two questions: How is homelessness this bad, and why isn’t anything being done to put an end to it? Unbeknownst to me at the time, homelessness is a complex issue with a much more complex solution.

Los Angeles is the second most populated city in the United States, boasting a population of around four million people. Sixty-six thousand of which are homeless. Crazy right? Especially since putting an end to homelessness seems simple, just give homes to those that are homeless. Unfortunately, as I’ve come to learn, it’s not that easy. Giving homes to the homeless means building homes which means finding a place to build said homes. Oftentimes, that “place” is someone’s “backyard.” Los Angeles residents who oppose the construction of homeless shelters have very little to say besides that “they’ll wreak havoc on the community.” I don’t believe that this justifies not wanting homeless shelters. I believe that homeless shelters are necessary because they provide a foundation from which a homeless person can access the services and supports he/she needs to get his/her life back on track.

Currently, there is a five-year-long program underway called the “25 by 25”, which sets Los Angeles on a path to build 25,000 housing units by the year 2025. The program “is a wide-ranging embrace of multiple housing policies… that includes using prefabricated housing units or repurposing old apartment buildings.” In essence, the “25 by 25” is all about building temporary and permanent shelters for the homeless. Both types of shelters are based on a “housing first” approach, which is a recovery-oriented model that provides housing for homeless people as quickly as possible, then provides them with services and supports to aid in their transition to more permanent housing. The approach is very effective, with studies showing that “between 75 percent and 91 percent of households remain housed a year after being [temporarily housed].” Not to mention, permanent housing has a long-term retention rate of up to 98 percent. So what does this all mean? It means that homeless people who are helped by the housing first approach stay out of homelessness.

Chandler Street Tiny Home Village is a prime example of how temporary shelters benefit the homeless and set them up for more permanent housing. Not only do they provide basic living necessities, but they also boost morale. As one homeless person put it, “‘Just being able to fall asleep! That’s so hard to do when you’re on the streets.’” A temporary shelter relieves the homeless of the stresses and dangers that come with living on the streets. As a result, they can focus more time and energy on other things, like arranging documents to get a job. A job plays a crucial role in aiding the homeless in their transition from temporary to permanent housing. However, the problem doesn’t end there.

In other words, homeless people need more than temporary shelters to get out of their predicament. “Well, if that’s the case, let’s just give them actual homes.” Even then, giving a homeless person a house is like giving an elderly man an iPhone. What I’m trying to say is that giving a homeless person a house helps him/her by providing shelter, but it doesn’t help with other things like social integration. Just like giving an elderly man an iPhone, it would be difficult for them to adapt to something so new. This is where permanent supportive housing (PSH) comes into play. PSH provides “affordable housing and supportive services [to] unstably housed and socially marginalized [individuals]” (Harris, et al.). The key here is social integration. Social integration is important because it allows homeless people to live just like everyone else, with the same choices and opportunities for neighborhood-based social interactions. In other words, social integration curates a sense of belonging through emotional and practical support, which in turn enables homeless people to achieve and maintain peaceful social relations. This is important because by showing that they can be like everyone else, their community will be more inclined to help them, perhaps in the form of supporting the construction of homeless shelters. However, not everyone will feel the same way.

Of course, there will always be people who will oppose the presence of homeless shelters in their area. Again, those people will say it’s because “they’ll wreak havoc on the community,” but in reality, it’s because they don’t agree with the connection, or absence thereof, between effort and reward. Breaking the connection between effort and reward is how the government justifies the redistribution of private property and anything else that one person has but another doesn’t. This is how “[someone] who stays in school, doesn’t do drugs, works hard for years and eventually earns a good salary can be taxed to the max to help the ‘less fortunate,’ while a person who makes horrendous life choices acquires a right to receive government checks.” The reason I bring this up is that Los Angeles city officials have pushed a “housing first policy” via a tax increase “that is supposed to build 10,000 units of supportive housing for the homeless with a $1.2 billion bond paid for by property owners.” Thus, hardworking homeowners who are probably still paying off their houses are now going to be paying more for homeless shelters that pose little to no benefit for them. Or do they?

Admittedly, the thought of having a homeless shelter in the area is troublesome at first. Not all homeless people share the same intentions of getting their life back on track, and so you never know what might happen when you encounter one. Not to mention, the idea that your community could become the next Skid Row is daunting as well. However, if we want to put a serious dent in homelessness we have to put these thoughts aside and look towards the future. Even then, how can we be so sure that homeless shelters, based on a housing-first approach, will work?

Actually, in Finland, the number of homeless people has greatly decreased ever since their implementation of a housing-first approach. In fact, Finland is the only country in Europe where the number of homeless people continues to decline. Shockingly enough, “four out of five people… make their way back into a stable life.” That’s an 80 percent success rate! Not to mention, the backlash surrounding these homeless shelters was very small compared to what we’re seeing here in Los Angeles. Thus, begging the question, what’s stopping us from doing the same?

With that being said, temporary and permanent shelters based on a housing-first approach seem to be the most effective solution to homelessness. However, it also seems to be the most opposed by communities. As a result, it’s easy to overlook the positives of a homeless shelter and instead focus on the negatives. At the end of the day, there will always be homeless people no matter what. Whether those homeless people set up camp on the sidewalk or at the park, with no hope of ever achieving a stable life, as opposed to designated shelters that will help them, is on us. Put yourself in their shoes, what would you want?

Works Cited

1. https://abc7.com/la-county-homelessness-socal-homeless-crisis-economic-roundtable-population/9601083/#:~:text=The%20county's%20overall%20homeless%20population,2023%2C%20a%2036%25%20increase.
2. https://www.courthousenews.com/la-city-councilman-25000-homes-by-2025-will-solve-homelessness-crisis/
3. https://endhomelessness.org/resource/housing-first/
4. https://ktla.com/news/local-news/l-a-opens-its-first-tiny-home-village-to-house-homeless-individuals/
5. Harris T, Dunton G, Henwood B, Rhoades H, Rice E, Wenzel S. Los Angeles housing models and neighborhoods’ role in supportive housing residents’ social integration. Housing studies. 2019;34(4):609–635. doi:10.1080/02673037.2018.1462308
6. https://www.ocregister.com/2019/09/04/why-youre-right-to-oppose-homeless-housing-in-your-neighborhood/
7. https://scoop.me/housing-first-finland-homelessness/#:~:text=In%20Finland%2C%20the%20number%20of,back%20into%20a%20stable%20life.