Prop HHH

Los Angeles City Voters Pass $1.2 Billion Housing Bond for Homeless

On November 8th, 76% of the Los Angeles City electorate voted to approve a $1.2 billion housing bond over 10 years to develop as many as 10,000 permanent supportive housing units.  It is not a matter of hyperbole to boldly affirm that this vote will have the single greatest impact ever on solving homelessness locally.

The proven nationally agreed upon solution for people who have been homeless for long periods and have a disability is the development of permanent supportive housing using a “Housing First” approach.  This means that there are no preconditions to housing and, as long as tenants pay their rent and are otherwise good tenants, they stay permanently housed.  Housing subsidies and services provided ensure that they are able to retain their housing.  This makes sense from both a humanitarian and cost-effective basis, as it has been proven to be less costly to provide people with housing than to allow them to stay on the streets, where they often run up large public expenses because of their over-utilization of emergency rooms and hospital beds.

Many organizations and individuals provided leadership including United Way’s Home for Good, of which Shelter Partnership is an active participant, and Los Angeles City’s elected and appointed officials.  An important shout-out goes to Shelter Partnership’s 2016 Annual Dinner honoree, Miguel A. Santana, LA City Administrative Officer, who set the stage for going to the voters to pay for the needed housing.

Shelter Partnership looks forward to continuing to work with the City to assure that the housing will be well-designed and well-managed and that neighborhoods throughout the City welcome their previously homeless neighbors.