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Dear <<First Name>>,
There is nothing compassionate about enabling people to live or die in squalor on streets and sidewalks.
Every day, my team and I are laser-focused on bringing unhoused Angelenos into safe, secure, managed environments, and ensure that public spaces, sidewalks, and streets are safe, clean, and accessible for all.
This week in Hollywood, we made huge progress on this front.
Working with a number of partners on Selma Avenue, we placed 18 people into safe, transitional housing, reducing the encampment there by more than half, providing a path to wellness and stability for the unhoused residents, and addressing safety and accessibility concerns along this important corridor.
I can’t overstate the significance of this progress. That’s 18 more people who were living in deplorable conditions and who now have a roof over their heads, 24/7 access to restrooms and hygiene facilities, meals, and focused attention from caring, dedicated service professionals.
Two of the people we helped this week are Nallely and Larry, who had lived on the sidewalk for a year, and are now living at the Tiny Home Village my team and I opened in Echo Park last year.
The other 16 from the encampment have been matched to Project Roomkey or are now living at transitional housing solutions I’ve opened across the district over the past few years. We expect more successes in the days to come.
Included in our comprehensive approach to addressing homelessness, I fund two homeless outreach teams that are solely dedicated to the 13th District. They supplement existing services provided by many of our partner agencies, and make sure our district gets the focused attention it deserves.
Also, the 13th District now has more permanent housing units for formerly homeless people, and has produced more affordable housing units, than anywhere outside of the downtown Los Angeles area.
This is compassion in action. As we bring more people into transitional and permanent housing, we can and will balance that need with everyone’s right to have a clean, accessible sidewalk and safer neighborhoods.
This can be done, because we are doing it — and, this week, we took a huge step forward in Hollywood.
Count on me to stay focused on improving the quality of life, health, and safety for all.
With kind regards,
MITCH O'FARRELL
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