In reality, the denizens of the Arroyo Seco told social workers they felt relatively secure there, but had earlier battled the same problems \u2014 high rents, lack of income, substance addictions and mental health challenges \u2014 that made homelessness epidemic around California.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the latest plan to find housing for the Arroyo Seco denizens?<\/p>\n
Led by Los Angeles City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, the government said it will do a better job this time around. The District 1 lawmaker secured $6 million from the state\u2019s $1-billion-plus Encampment Resolution Funding program. The city and partner agencies, including USC\u2019s Street Medicine team LA Global Care social services, spent months building trust with unhoused people, starting at Lacy Street Neighborhood Park, tucked into the armpit of Interstate 5 and the 110 near the south end of the Arroyo Seco.<\/p>\n
Nearly 30 people had turned the park into an encampment that one of the residents called \u201csad, cold and depressing.\u201d While street workers fed and cared for the campers, the city worked on finding a better place for them to live.<\/p>\n
Many insisted they didn\u2019t want to go to another homeless shelter that they felt would be unsafe, overly restrictive or too far from home. Others wanted to make sure their new place would have room for their loved ones, including pets.<\/p>\n
Guided by Hernandez\u2019s office, the outreach teams eventually found permanent apartments for 27 people from Lacy Park. Many of them got spots at an apartment building, with meals and supportive services, south of the Santa Monica Freeway, not far from USC. One tenant said they pay little or no rent, at least to start out.<\/p>\n
Michael Guerra told me he had lost his job as a chef and descended into a deep depression before landing in the park. The encouragement from outreach teams and the new apartment helped restore his hope, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s peaceful. It\u2019s quiet,\u201d Guerra said. \u201cBefore, we did the best we could. But now we know we are safe and warm and not having to worry about things that might happen in the middle of the night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said one homeless woman: \u2018Nobody owes them nothing\u2019<\/p>\n
The city program is now focused on 43 other people living farther up the Arroyo Seco, into Highland Park. When I dropped in a couple months ago, one woman along that stretch told me she would be thrilled to move inside, after more than two decades living in the streets. Leora Cervantes, 53, said she had been assaulted several times in recent years. She bemoaned the trash and graffiti left by her fellow campers, empathizing with neighbors, including citizens who use a park on the other side of the storm channel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s right what they do, what any of us do,\u201d said Cervantes. \u201cThey think everybody owes them something and they don\u2019t. Nobody owes them nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Previous Arroyo cleanups failed, largely because those who were rousted did not have anywhere better to go. Hernandez acknowledged that the work of bringing people inside is slow, hard and expensive. But she doesn\u2019t see any other way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve said it before and I\u2019ll say it again, \u2018You can\u2019t incarcerate your way out of this,\u2019\u201d the councilperson said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re proving right here is that care-first models actually work. They save lives, save money, and make our community safer, and this is how we fight back against the hate and neglect, by building a city that doesn\u2019t abandon people when they need help the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s top stories <\/p>\n
Controversy surrounds the unfinished Vietnam veterans memorial in Fountain Valley\u2019s Mile Square Park.<\/p>\n
(Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Corruption looms over Vietnam War memorialStormy weather continues in SoCalTrump\u2019s appeal to block migrantsThe Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal from the Trump administration<\/a> that argues migrants have no right to seek asylum at the southern border.The government is seeking the right for border agents to block asylum seekers from U.S. soil and turn away their claims without a hearing.What else is going onCommentary and opinionsThis morning\u2019s must readsOther must readsFor your downtime L.A.\u2019s annual holiday markets and craft fairs offer a chance to shop small and avoid busy malls.<\/p>\n (Los Angeles Times photo illustration; Photos by Christina House, Robert Gauthier, Mariah Tauger\/Los Angeles Times; Silvia Razgova\/For The Times, Courtesy of Bryan Santamaria and Christina Foste, Renegade Craft, Venice Fest, Heather Levine)<\/p>\n Going outStaying inA question for you: What\u2019s one special dish your family makes for Thanksgiving?<\/p>\n Jose Cabanillas said, \u201cYears ago, Russ Parsons wrote up for the Times about testing how to \u2018dry brine\u2019 a turkey for Thanksgiving like Judy Rodgers prepared the chickens at Zuni Cafe. I had to try it, and it became the family standard for the big dinner. Perfect bird. Everybody loves it. It has become the albatross around my neck, an inescapable curse that I must prepare every year. Thanks, Russ.\u201d <\/p>\n Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.<\/p>\n And finally … your photo of the day Community members gather on Highland Avenue in Altadena to enjoy a block party on Oct. 26.<\/p>\n (Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Today\u2019s great photo is from Times staff photographer Jason Armond of Highland Avenue in Altadena, where neighbors are learning to rebuild through community after the Eaton fire<\/a>.<\/p>\n Have a great day, from the Essential California team<\/p>\n Jim Rainey, staff reporter How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>. Check our top stories<\/a>, topics<\/a> and the latest articles<\/a> on latimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are probably more prominent homeless encampments in California, but the collection of tents, lean-tos and makeshift shacks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[7,2299,1085,891,2300,2297,340,2303,48,52,51,47,50,49,63,2302,1086,1459,2301,2298,74,225,315,688],"class_list":{"0":"post-58607","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-civic-revolt","10":"tag-covid","11":"tag-covid-19","12":"tag-days","13":"tag-essential-california","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-l-a","16":"tag-la","17":"tag-la-headlines","18":"tag-la-news","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","21":"tag-los-angeles-news","22":"tag-los-angeles-times","23":"tag-may","24":"tag-pandemic","25":"tag-part","26":"tag-president-biden","27":"tag-red-county","28":"tag-san-diego","29":"tag-state","30":"tag-time","31":"tag-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hugo Mart\u00edn, assistant editor, Fast Break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
June Hsu, editorial fellow
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters<\/p>\n