Wendy Brown, 58, who spent three years sleeping on sidewalks, walks through the hallway where she now resides at the Cadillac Hotel in Venice. As part of Project Roomkey, she is sleeping in a $240-a-night room off the boardwalk.(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Even as the COVID-19 pandemic is slashing tax revenue across the board, officials Tuesday unveiled an $800-million plan to house Los Angeles County’s homeless people who are most vulnerable to the disease.
The three-year program proposed by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority would employ a combination of bridge housing, rental subsidies and rehousing services, all leading to permanent placements for 15,000 people who are considered most vulnerable to COVID-19 because of their age or health conditions.
The plan is a recasting of the county’s goal to shelter those people in leased hotels and motels as part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Project Roomkey. That program has fallen short, with the county securing enough rooms for close to 4,000 people.
While the homeless authority must start rehousing those 4,000 as leases begin expiring next month, it has also committed to finding homes for the remaining 11,000 who never got into a hotel room.