As our city responds to the spread of coronavirus, we will be providing periodic email bulletins, summarizing and sharing important news and information.
Today's second bulletin of the day includes information on the Mayor's order instructing the use of 42 city facilities to temporarily house people experiencing homelessness. Please let us know if there is particular information it would be helpful for us to provide.
Dear Friends,
As part of a continuing effort to halt the spread of the coronavirus, Mayor Eric Garcetti has ordered the use of 42 city facilities to temporarily house people experiencing homelessness. Five of those facilities are on the Westside.
The temporary shelter at the Westwood Recreation Center will open as soon as later today. In the coming days, shelters are expected to open at the Westchester Recreation Center, the Pacific Palisades Recreation Center, the Oakwood Recreation Center, and the Cheviot Hills Recreation Center. All of these sites are designated emergency centers used in the case of natural disasters, such as fires and earthquakes. Additionally, the emergency winter shelter at the West LA Armory will remain open until at least April 20.
These actions are happening while Governor Gavin Newsom works to implement a plan to house the unhoused in hotels and motels across the state. Under the plan, the state would lease the property and local counties would control the operations. According to the governor's office, they have identified 950 sites in 53 counties.
Mayor Garcetti’s order to use city facilities is part of a broad and multi-faceted effort to protect the public health and prevent the further spread of the coronavirus. Public health officials have warned that people living on the streets are tremendously susceptible to contracting the virus, and have urged local governments to move people inside swiftly.
People designated by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority as most vulnerable and most at-risk, especially people over 55 or suffering from other ailments, will have top priority for the available beds. Beds will be spaced more than 6 feet apart to adhere to social distancing guidelines. City departments will provide the beds, personal hygiene kits, and showers. Government agencies and nonprofits will provide meals. The facilities will provide rigorous health monitoring, be open 24 hours per day, provide storage, and have full-time staff, including social workers and security. LADOT will provide transportation to the shelters.
LAFD Emergency Medical Technicians and other street medicine providers are assigned to each new facility to screen clients upon intake, monitor the health of program participants on an ongoing basis, and escalate health concerns using established protocols to move clients to higher levels of care. If someone tests positive for COVID-19 in one of the new or existing shelter settings, they will be triaged into an isolation unit, where they would be treated by the healthcare system.
As federal, state, county and city governments respond to this widening crisis, information is changing rapidly. Some of the designated sites are subject to change. We will do our best to keep you updated with the latest information. For more information about the City of Los Angeles’ response to the novel coronavirus crisis, please visit
https://corona-virus.la/.
Thank you for your partnership as we work together to get through this crisis.
Take good care,
MIKE BONIN
Councilmember, 11th District
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So, the homeless in Los Angeles are being helped.
We also have YMCA camps that we can use, and other camps.
May God bless those who are working in order to help other people.
Salute,
Tony V.
Poll
5 (45.5%)