Latest news with #PathwayHome
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Cleanup operation underway to remove RV encampment in Gardena
The Brief Dozens of RVs are located along the Gardena-West Rancho Dominguez border. For years, residents complained that the influx of trailers led to overcrowding. Cleanup efforts began Wednesday, April 30th. LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. - Los Angeles County Sheriff's officials are taking action against a homeless encampment that has been growing in the area for years. The backstory Dozens of RVs are located in the East Gardena-West Rancho Dominguez area in unincorporated LA County with the heaviest concentration along Compton Boulevard between Main Street and South Avalon Boulevard. For years, residents have complained about the influx of trailers leading to overcrowding, and say the surge in the population has increased crimes such as prostitution, drug dealing and burglaries. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homeless Outreach Services Team (HOST), in coordination with several county agencies, is leading a cleanup and outreach operation in the area. The effort will involve removing trash, debris, and RVs that some unhoused Angelenos have been calling home for years. Dig deeper The operation is part of the Pathway Home Program, an LA County Homeless Initiative-led encampment resolution program adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2023. Since the inception of the Pathway Home program, the Sheriff's Department Homeless Outreach Services Team (HOST) has placed 1,300 individuals into interim housing and off the streets. The program has helped remove 775 dilapidated RVs from the streets of unincorporated Los Angeles and Contract Cities. "It's an amazing feeling. It's very rare we get to see an immediate impact on people's lives, but it takes a lot of coordination and work.," said Pathway home director Kimberly Barnette. Seventy to eighty people are expected to be brought indoors from the RV encampment Wednesday alone, according to Pathway Home spokesperson Denis Wolcott. The goal of the operation is to transition individuals from homelessness into safe, permanent housing in order to enhance public safety and improve the quality of life for both unhoused people and the surrounding communities. LASD Lt. George Suarez has been on the frontlines of homeless outreach for years. "Services in a unique style. Everything is brought all at once. The housing resources are guaranteed and we've done outreach and know every single person in the encampment, so they're on a list and we know who tries to sneak in," he said. "It is clearly a humanitarian crisis. We're seeing the positive momentum we're seeing the true work now happening," he added. County officials said the individuals experiencing homelessness will be offered housing and support services, with transportation provided by social workers on site. The RVs will be towed to a recycling center and dismantled, according to sheriff's officials. The operation is expected to take approximately three days. Keys To Success One of the keys is leveraging outreach service volunteers the homeless trust, like community advocate Dave Matthews and Rigo Alejo who turned his life around after nearly a decade living here in an RV. "I am an example to all these people around who I used to hang out with if I can do it anyone can do it," said Alejo. Other success stories include Erin Echavarria who, with a little guidance, got herself an apartment and job. And 65-year-old David Peters, who just exchanged his RV for housing after someone ran over his dog here. Cleaning up the whole county is a slow process, but Pathway Home has sure made a dent…and already come full-circle. "they listen and ask me if they can help and clean-up," said Alejo. The Source Information from Los Angeles County officials.
CBS News
30-04-2025
- CBS News
RVs getting cleared from large-scale homeless encampment near Gardena
A large-scale homeless encampment cleanup is underway Wednesday as roughly 60 RVs are getting removed from Redondo Beach and Compton boulevards, east of Gardena. The area has been targeted by outreach workers for over a year, offering those living along the roadway alternative choices for housing and services. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna called the site a health hazard, with people living in life-threatening conditions. "As you're going along this street, there is not running water, there's no running toilets and people need to use the restroom, so where is all that human waste going?" "Not to mention whether it's drug paraphernalia that we find out here – this is not where you want people walking around. It's not a healthy environment," Luna said. The cleanup is spearheaded by the county's Pathway Home initiative which launched in 2023 and is funded through voter-approved Measure A, the half-cent countywide sales tax earmarked for homeless services. To date, Pathway Home has taken down 44 encampments, removed 775 RVs, permanently housed 265 people, and moved 1,319 people into interim housing, according to its website. Officials said those who do not choose to participate in the offerings over the next couple of days will still be forced to leave, the RVs will still be towed away, and the streets and sidewalks will be cleared. It's an effort to return these streets and sidewalks back to the neighborhoods, they say. "The goal of these Pathway Home encampment removals is to help transition people all at once, all at the same time, either into a motel or if we've done a master lease in an apartment building, to transition them as a community, given the fact that they have been living in a community," Supervisor Holly Mitchell said.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Yahoo
L.A. County's first safe parking for homeless people living in RVs opens in Crenshaw
Jose Garcia had been living in his RV for six years and growing tired of the life. "Big problems with the police in the last year," he said. "Sometimes come the police and say we can't stay more. I change a lot of cities." At his last stop he got a $130 citation. Then, with Los Angeles County ramping up its efforts to remove some of the thousands of recreational vehicles parked on its streets, a sympathetic sheriff's deputy told Garcia there was a place where he could park legally. Garcia now resides on a parking lot in the Crenshaw District — L.A. County's first safe parking location for RVs. The one-year, $900,000 pilot project opened in November on county property vacated by the Probation Department when it moved to Downey in 2019. Thirteen RVs now occupy the lot, with one space yet to be filled. Their owners will be able to stay there for up to six months while they pursue permanent housing. All have agreed to surrender their vehicles if and when they get it. Safe parking is one facet of the county's Pathway Home encampment resolution program. In 29 operations since its launch in August 2023, Pathway Home has removed 624 recreational vehicles from the streets while moving nearly 1,100 people into interim and permanent housing. "We tried to be creative with people living in RVs," county Supervisor Holly Mitchell said while sharing a breakfast with its residents in December. Mitchell spearheaded the project in response to a plethora of RVs parked in her district. The 2,245 RVs in the most recent homeless count accounted for a third of the county total. "Those that are living in RVs that the van lords are renting to them, charging them ridiculous amounts of money for something that really isn't habitable, we are really trying to help those people transition to a different form of housing and get those RVs out of there," she said. The safe parking is for a small subset of those RV dwellers who meet two criteria: Their vehicles must be operable, and they must have proof of ownership. The former Probation Department lot offers a hideaway bounded by Crenshaw and Obama boulevards and the Expo Line and is sealed off from a row of apartment buildings to its west by a tall wall and shrubbery. For its residents, the lot is an extension of the low-cost and independent life they had, with improvements such as three meals delivered daily and a trailer with showers and toilets. That's a plus for Maria Valencia, 62, who never used what she called the "poopy" in her 10 years parking on the streets of East Los Angeles. She showered in the RV but used the toilets of restaurants and businesses. Mitchell said that the one-year program could be extended but that the site of the pilot will eventually be replaced by an affordable housing development. Mitchell said she hopes the parking lot will inspire others by then. "While it may not feel like it makes a dent in the 2,000, it will be significant for these 14," Mitchell said. "And this is the first. We need to have multiple safe parking spots I believe all over L.A. County as one of the tools in our tool kit." Four of the spaces will be reserved for RV dwellers from Los Angeles City Council District 10, and the remainder will come from unincorporated portions of Mitchell's 2nd District. The county contracted with End Homelessness California to provide food service, housing navigation and security. Operating as the Shower of Hope, it also runs 24 mobile showers, provides housing for 45 community college students in leased homes and manages two safe parking locations for automobiles. Unlike safe parking for automobiles, which is open only overnight and requires vehicles to leave during the day, the lot will be open 24 hours a day. Electrical hookups are provided, and a mobile bathroom will remain on-site. RV owners can come and go, but the goal is for the vehicles to stay put. "We really want them to stay because you don't want a lot of traffic in a lot like this," said Mel Tillekeratne, co-founder and executive director of the Shower of Hope. "The goal is they stay here. We just want to make sure we engage them as much as possible so we can get them into housing." That's not a drawback for Valencia. "If they let us stay here, I'll be happy to stay forever," she said. "I'm happy here. I don't have to worry about the rent, the bills, the bills, the bills. When I had my apartment, every day the same thing. Even when I paid the rent, I was worried for the next month, working here, working there, working everywhere." As yet, there is no track record on how quickly residents will move on. Both Garcia and Valencia are looking forward to having their own apartments, but it will be hard giving up the homes they've grown attached to. Garcia, who has lived in the U.S. without legal status for 30 years, has had to forgo his apartment search while his case manager helps him gets identification. Valencia said she is in line to get a rental subsidy and start an apartment search but isn't looking forward to surrendering the RV. "It will hurt me a lot," Valencia said. "Because this is beautiful. This is wonderful." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
29-01-2025
- Los Angeles Times
L.A. County's first safe parking for homeless people living in RVs opens in Crenshaw
Jose Garcia had been living in his RV for six years and growing tired of the life. 'Big problems with the police in the last year,' he said. 'Sometimes come the police and say we can't stay more. I change a lot of cities.' At his last stop he got a $130 citation. Then, with Los Angeles County ramping up its efforts to remove some of the thousands of recreational vehicles parked on its streets, a sympathetic sheriff's deputy told Garcia there was a place where he could park legally. Garcia now resides on a parking lot in the Crenshaw District — L.A. County's first safe parking location for RVs. The one-year, $900,000 pilot project opened in November on county property vacated by the Probation Department when it moved to Downey in 2019. Thirteen RVs now occupy the lot, with one space yet to be filled. Their owners will be able to stay there for up to six months while they pursue permanent housing. All have agreed to surrender their vehicles if and when they get it. Safe parking is one facet of the county's Pathway Home encampment resolution program. In 29 operations since its launch in August 2023, Pathway Home has removed 624 recreational vehicles from the streets while moving nearly 1,100 people into interim and permanent housing. 'We tried to be creative with people living in RVs,' county Supervisor Holly Mitchell said while sharing a breakfast with its residents in December. Mitchell spearheaded the project in response to a plethora of RVs parked in her district. The 2,245 RVs in the most recent homeless count accounted for a third of the county total. 'Those that are living in RVs that the van lords are renting to them, charging them ridiculous amounts of money for something that really isn't habitable, we are really trying to help those people transition to a different form of housing and get those RVs out of there,' she said. The safe parking is for a small subset of those RV dwellers who meet two criteria: Their vehicles must be operable, and they must have proof of ownership. The former Probation Department lot offers a hideaway bounded by Crenshaw and Obama boulevards and the Expo Line and is sealed off from a row of apartment buildings to its west by a tall wall and shrubbery. For its residents, the lot is an extension of the low-cost and independent life they had, with improvements such as three meals delivered daily and a trailer with showers and toilets. That's a plus for Maria Valencia, 62, who never used what she called the 'poopy' in her 10 years parking on the streets of East Los Angeles. She showered in the RV but used the toilets of restaurants and businesses. Mitchell said that the one-year program could be extended but that the site of the pilot will eventually be replaced by an affordable housing development. Mitchell said she hopes the parking lot will inspire others by then. 'While it may not feel like it makes a dent in the 2,000, it will be significant for these 14,' Mitchell said. 'And this is the first. We need to have multiple safe parking spots I believe all over L.A. County as one of the tools in our tool kit.' Four of the spaces will be reserved for RV dwellers from Los Angeles City Council District 10, and the remainder will come from unincorporated portions of Mitchell's 2nd District. The county contracted with End Homelessness California to provide food service, housing navigation and security. Operating as the Shower of Hope, it also runs 24 mobile showers, provides housing for 45 community college students in leased homes and manages two safe parking locations for automobiles. Unlike safe parking for automobiles, which is open only overnight and requires vehicles to leave during the day, the lot will be open 24 hours a day. Electrical hookups are provided, and a mobile bathroom will remain on-site. RV owners can come and go, but the goal is for the vehicles to stay put. 'We really want them to stay because you don't want a lot of traffic in a lot like this,' said Mel Tillekeratne, co-founder and executive director of the Shower of Hope. 'The goal is they stay here. We just want to make sure we engage them as much as possible so we can get them into housing.' That's not a drawback for Valencia. 'If they let us stay here, I'll be happy to stay forever,' she said. 'I'm happy here. I don't have to worry about the rent, the bills, the bills, the bills. When I had my apartment, every day the same thing. Even when I paid the rent, I was worried for the next month, working here, working there, working everywhere.' As yet, there is no track record on how quickly residents will move on. Both Garcia and Valencia are looking forward to having their own apartments, but it will be hard giving up the homes they've grown attached to. Garcia, who has lived in the U.S. without legal status for 30 years, has had to forgo his apartment search while his case manager helps him gets identification. Valencia said she is in line to get a rental subsidy and start an apartment search but isn't looking forward to surrendering the RV. 'It will hurt me a lot,' Valencia said. 'Because this is beautiful. This is wonderful.'
