Press Release from Harbor Interfaith:
SAN PEDRO, CA: Have you noticed the tent community of homeless individuals near the San Pedro Post Office? Harbor Interfaith Services (HIS) has been working with the individuals and getting them into housing one-by-one. Unfortunately, as we find housing for each, a new person takes their place.
As San Pedro residents can tell you, the process has seemed endless, but HIS is trying a new solution. First, some background. The reason homeless people group, such as around the post office, under bridges, along Skid Row, is because being homeless is dangerous and grouping creates a safety net in numbers. Grouping also provides a sense of community given that homelessness carries a social stigma. You don’t feel quite so alone when you are with others like you.
To address street homeless in the San Pedro area, several projects have been in the works including one sponsored by City Councilman Joe Buscaino and another by Los Angeles County Supervisor, Janice Hahn. Harbor Interfaith Services is the service provider for Supervisor Hahn’s project.
Once the client is housed, a new homeless person takes their place in the Interim Housing Facility. The client can live at this site for the weeks or months, however long it takes to be housed.
The facility opens on Monday, March 7, 2020.
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Harbor Interfaith Services is the South Bay’s official Lead Service Provider of homeless services. It empowers the homeless and working poor to achieve self-sufficiency by providing support services including shelter, transitional housing, food, job placement, advocacy, childcare, education, and life-skills training. Last year, we served 13,345 people.