LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass today joined Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum, Chief Executive Officer of Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and LAHSA Chair Lindsey P. Horvath and federal, county and city officials to kick off the Point-In-Time (PIT) Count in Los Angeles. Leaders held a press conference at the Tiara Street Park, a deployment site in North Hollywood.
“The Point-In-Time Count is an important tool to confront the homelessness crisis,” said Mayor Bass. “Homelessness is an emergency, and it will take all of us working together to confront this emergency. With COVID back rent due at the end of the month, we have to ensure that we are doing everything we can to house Angelenos and also prevent Angelenos from falling into homelessness.”
“LAHSA is proud to lead the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, which is an important tool in helping us understand homelessness in the region,” Dr. Adams Kellum said. “Together, we’re making significant enhancements to our rehousing system, and this regional snapshot that will guide policy decisions that make those changes possible.”
“Across Los Angeles County, we come together each January in an essential effort to understand the scope of homelessness in our community,” said Los Angeles County Board and LAHSA Chair Lindsey P. Horvath. “The Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count is only possible thanks to thousands of volunteers who come together to compassionately support every person in need of a safe place to call home.”
Last week Mayor Bass and the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) Task Force on Homelessness called on Americans to participate in the upcoming homeless Point-In-Time Count and announced an upcoming national path to bring more people inside by advocating for additional housing vouchers, increased project-based voucher flexibility to build more permanent supportive housing and expanded eligibility to ensure our unhoused veterans are not left behind. The announcement followed a standing room only USCM Homelessness Task Force meeting focused on advancing federal legislative, regulatory and budgetary action on this important issue.