{"id":20657,"date":"2023-02-23T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T14:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=20657"},"modified":"2023-04-25T07:51:02","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T11:51:02","slug":"la-offers-motel-rooms-if-you-give-up-your-tent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/la-offers-motel-rooms-if-you-give-up-your-tent\/","title":{"rendered":"LA Offers Motel Rooms &#8211; If You Give Up Your Tent"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Giving Up Your Only Shelter and Relying Fully on the City Is a Hard Sell for Many Who\u2019ve Been Burned Before<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A new housing program in Los Angeles is moving quickly to get people off the streets and into motel rooms &#8211; under certain conditions. In order to be eligible for a motel room, you can only take a few bags\u2019 worth of possessions with you, and you have to let the city destroy your tent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Keep in mind that what the city views as unsightly trash is usually an unhoused person\u2019s lifeline. Their tent and whatever other possessions they\u2019ve managed to hold onto are vital survival gear keeping them as sheltered, safe, and sane as they can be. Asking them to give that up is asking them to fully rely on a system that has already failed them at least once. It\u2019s a vulnerable position for a population that has no good reason to be so trusting- and every reason not to.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Mayor Karen Bass Is Wasting No Time<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">This new initiative is the project of LA\u2019s new mayor, Karen Bass.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">After being sworn into office in December, she moved quickly to make good on her campaign promise to get\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2023\/02\/04\/karen-bass-los-angeles-homelessness-00081190\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">17,000 unhoused Angelenos off the streets<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0by the end of her first year in office. Specifically, she has pledged to \u201curgently move people inside and to do so for good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">To accomplish this, she declared a local state of emergency regarding homelessness during her first week in office. Then she launched the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/mayor.lacity.gov\/news\/mayor-bass-signs-executive-directive-launching-inside-safe-changing-citys-encampment-approach#:~:text=Inside%20Safe%20will%20assess%20street,Quick%20fixes%20are%20not%20solutions.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Inside Safe Initiative<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, which has several promising points in its action plan, including:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Create a strategy of large-scale, citywide coordination\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Identify criteria and strategies for determining the highest-need encampments across the city, primarily focusing on encampments that are chronic and have a high demand for services<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Identify interim housing for each person in encampments\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Identify permanent housing resources for each person in encampments\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Assure that the Inside Safe Action Plan integrates equity principles in its design and implementation<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Consult with people who have lived experience of homelessness on the development and implementation of all relevant strategies<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Mayor Bass has stressed that even though she\u2019s moving quickly to address this problem, the initiative is not about quick fixes. It\u2019s about getting people off the streets right now and maintaining them safely inside until permanent housing is made available for them.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>Perhaps that\u2019s why she didn\u2019t see requiring tent destruction as a problem.<\/h4>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">She firmly believes that if all goes to plan, no one taken in by her initiative will ever need their tents for shelter again. But for some who could benefit from the program, surrendering their lifeline and trusting that they\u2019ll be provided for is an insurmountable barrier.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">To the mayor, getting rid of the tents is a matter of course to ensure that encampments get cleaned up as the people who lived there transition inside. But to the unhoused people on the other end of the deal, it\u2019s a giant leap of faith.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Hopefully, Changes Can Be Made<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Inside Safe initiative specifically includes a provision for listening to people with lived experiences of homelessness and incorporating their feedback at all stages of the process. For this reason, we are hopeful that changes can be made to make this program more accessible to everyone who could benefit from it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In an\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/videos\/us\/2023\/02\/07\/los-angeles-homeless-motels-unhoused-watt-vpx.cnn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">interview with CNN\u2019s Nick Watt<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, Mayor Bass seems open to changing the tent-destruction policy. Though she explains that \u201cthe point is, they\u2019re not gonna need a tent,\u201d she expresses understanding of unhoused people being hesitant to give up their safety net and ends with, \u201cwe\u2019ll have to examine that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A Bright Future on the Way to LA?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Overall, this program could be just the swift and decisive action we have been begging for to address homelessness. Mayor Bass is plainly committed to getting people sheltered and eventually housed. She\u2019s sworn off tired techniques of trying to make unhoused people some other city\u2019s problem that we\u2019ve seen play out too many times already.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If her plan works the way she envisions it, it will be revolutionary not just for the city of Los Angeles but for cities across the United States and elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">We hope it does work, especially because the program has already cleared out six encampments across Los Angeles and put more than 200 people up in motel and hotel rooms. But while these vulnerable people now have a (temporary) roof over their heads, the Mayor&#8217;s program <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/marvistavoice\/status\/1622791173252464640?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">does not provide them with food or hygiene products<\/a>. Additionally, homeless people who have vehicles have been turned away because they cannot afford the $10 daily fee to park their cars.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If it doesn\u2019t work, those 200+ people will be back on the street starting from scratch &#8211; this time without a tent.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">We\u2019ve Been Here Before<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">At this point in the initiative, all we have is temporary housing and the intention to build permanent housing at some point in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">We\u2019ve been here before. Though it\u2019s only been a few months since Mayor Bass took office, the pathway to permanent housing on her initiative is unclear. What we do know is individuals are not being offered support services at this point &#8211; just (temporary) housing. Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/runolgarun\/status\/1628595718536728576?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">unprecedented storms are hitting the area<\/a> leaving unhoused people in more precarious situations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Only time will tell whether this new initiative will fare better than the old ones. Other mayors before her have come this far only to fumble the follow-through. The key will be in Mayor Bass\u2019s ability to get permanent housing and supportive services up and running despite all the red tape and politicking that stands in the way.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Giving Up Your Only Shelter and Relying Fully on the City Is a Hard Sell for Many Who\u2019ve Been Burned Before A new housing program in Los Angeles is moving quickly to get people off the streets and into motel &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/la-offers-motel-rooms-if-you-give-up-your-tent\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":20658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[283,295],"tags":[253,11915,832,16532,515,1196,508,7482,285,17382,17383,776,9009],"coauthors":[8990],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20657"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20657"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21069,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20657\/revisions\/21069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20657"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=20657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}