By Rachel Lampert
Homelessness has continued to rise in Los Angeles, especially for veterans. We continue to see how this makes a big difference in that those who are struggling need help finding resources. The city of Los Angeles’ Mayor Karen Bass has been pretty vocal about the situation between homeless and evictions. According to LAist reporter Tyler Wayne, Bass has devised an idea to help provide unhoused veterans with more resources. He says, “Los Angeles could see around 30,000 evictions this year, according to officials at Tuesday’s announcement. Conway Collis, president and CEO of the Mayor’s Fund, said the fund focused on preventing emergencies, like evictions.” Evictions are where tenants are expelled or taken away from a property. These resources will provide eviction defense and rental assistance. This will also give individuals the choice between either accepting benefits or accepting housing. Bass feels that accepting housing is the smart choice because the other option could make the veterans unqualified. We should not have to deal with being evicted, nor should anyone else.
The website Mayor City LA elaborates more on the program. As said by Mayor Karen Bass, “The Mayor’s Fund’s, We Are LA, homelessness prevention efforts are stretching resources further, reaching more people, and helping prevent people from falling into homelessness in the first place. The new partnership with U.S.VETS will allow for efficient and effective work to prevent veterans from falling into homelessness and in just a few weeks.” The program is set to improve this case by limiting these issues. Diving further into this, the problem of unhoused veterans has always been an ongoing situation. Mayor Bass is advocating alongside The United States Conference of Mayors (USCMs) to develop this plan in partnership with the plan. The Beverly Press states, “The mayors will push for securing additional housing vouchers, increasing project-based voucher flexibility to build more permanent and supportive housing, and expanding eligibility of housing vouchers to ensure unhoused veterans are not excluded due to receiving disability income benefits.” Therefore, the resources put into place could increase the number of resources for those who are impacted. Evictions are a serious concern. The idea of unknowingly where you may end up is a scary thought. Luckily, there are support services that help those in need.
Veterans can reach out to TeamStep USA, which offers multiple locations. For more information, their main office is located in Santa Ana at (714) 444-0075 or visit www.teamstepusa.org Another resource is We Are L.A. hotline (213)584-1808 and mayorsfundla.org.
References:
Beverly Press. (2024, April 10). Mayor launches new efforts to address veteran homelessness.https://beverlypress.com/2024/04/mayor-launches-new-efforts-to-address-veteran-homelessness/
Office of Mayor Karen Bass. (2024, April 9). Mayor’s Fund for LA launches new homelessness prevention partnership with U.S.VETS. City of Los Angeles. https://mayor.lacity.gov/news/mayors-fund-la-launches-new-homelessness-prevention-partnership-usvets
Wayne, T. (2024, April 10). LA Mayor’s Fund announces partnership to help unhoused veterans. LAist. https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/new-partnership-to-help-las-unhoused-veterans