Permanent Housing Effort Starts For Homeless On Venice Boardwalk

VENICE, CA — Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin's initiative to begin housing people living on Ocean Front Walk starts this week and even before launching, has housed 19 people so far, the councilmember announced Monday.

"Those 19 people are the first of up to 200 people we intend to house," Bonin said. "That’s 19 individuals—someone’s mother, father, brother, or sister—who had fallen into homelessness for a variety of reasons, and now are safely under a roof on a path to permanent housing. This is what addressing our crisis of homelessness in Los Angeles looks like, getting one unhoused resident at a time back on their feet and into housing."

Teams from St. Joseph Center will work urgently to start offering voluntary permanent housing for people along the boardwalk, where a growing homeless population spiked in the pandemic. More than 200 tents line the iconic beach path.

Outreach workers will begin focusing on Zone 1 this week, Bonin said. Zone 1 is the area from the boardwalk to the shore, between Park Avenue and Windward Avenue.

"Each unhoused resident in that area will be offered immediate, temporary housing and commitment of permanent housing," Bonin said. "At the end of the week, city crews will clean the area and return it to general public use."

Last week, the city council delayed a vote to approve an initial $5 million in funding, which would be used for interim housing for 200 people camping along the iconic boardwalk. In order to amend the 2021-22 budget, the vote must occur during that fiscal year, which begins on July 1.

"Beginning Monday, teams led by the St. Joseph Center will begin offering housing, shelter and services to everyone currently living in encampments along Ocean Front Walk," Bonin said. "The six-week initiative, a collaboration between neighbors, government agencies and nonprofits, will offer nearly 200 people a pathway to permanent housing and appropriate services to help them succeed."

Bonin has proposed a series of homeless housing solutions on the Westside, proposing a motion in March for several "safe camping" and temporary sites. The proposal included several locations, including sites in Marina del Rey and Pacific Palisades.

Earlier this month, a political battle over the humanitarian crisis escalated when Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced that deputies would begin clearing encampments off the boardwalk, citing a lack of urgency from local leaders to develop an action plan. Venice is outside the sheriff's department's jurisdiction and is patrolled by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department Pacific Division.

Bonin has criticized Villanueva's approach to removing tents and unhoused neighbors along Ocean Front Walk. The program launching next week will take a different approach and has the backing from Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, Mayor Eric Garcetti and Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas.

"The "Venice Beach Encampment to Home" program will not be led by law enforcement, nor driven by threats of arrest or incarceration," Bonin said. "We will offer what works: housing, with counseling, or mental health services, substance abuse recovery services, and anything else needed to successfully transition people into housing."

As people and their belongings move indoors, the Bureau of Sanitation resources will clean each area, he said. The goal is to provide permanent housing vouchers, offer shared housing and Project Homekey. The city council Wednesday will consider the funding for the Encampment to Home program for Venice Beach.

"The current situation is intolerable, and we must end it," Bonin said. "Nobody deserves to live, or die, on the street; and all Angelenos should be able to enjoy our neighborhoods, beaches, and parks. We can do better, and this program creates a model for bringing people together to house those in need and reopen our public spaces, using a humane and proven approach."

Homelessness has grown throughout Los Angeles and throughout the pandemic. Last week, a man was attacked and killed inside a tent. Over the past several months, a series of fires have broken out at the encampments along Ocean Front Walk and nearby alleyways. A performer was brutally attacked on the boardwalk. A security guard was attacked and seriously injured.

Other organizations will step in to help house people, including People Assisting the Homeless, Safe Place for Youth, Venice Family Clinic, Self Help and Recovery Exchange (SHARE!), CLARE Matrix and others. Government agencies include the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Recreation & Parks, and the Bureau of Sanitation.

Patch reached out to St. Joseph Center for more information on the upcoming street teams and process for helping to house people living on the streets.

LAPD supports the program but is not involved in this rehousing effort, Bonin said. The sheriff's department will not be included.

"The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, whose presence and lack of familiarity with Venice and available services has been disruptive to outreach efforts, is not involved or participating," Bonin said.

"The sheriff's rhetoric and approach are damaging, as is the criminalization of homelessness," Bonin said. "It leads to re-traumatization, breaks crucial connections with service providers, creates barriers to housing and employment, locks people further into homelessness or poverty, and can lead to displacement into neighboring areas. That's why our effort leads with housing, and not with handcuffs."

People in the neighborhood can also volunteer to help with the initiative, Bonin said.

"If you would like to volunteer to help support this effort, if you would like to donate materials or supplies to people moving indoors, or if you own rental units and would be interested in accepting a tenant with a housing voucher, please fill out this form and let us know," he said.

We are trying to house everyone on the Venice boardwalk, which will result in freeing park space for recreation and general public use.

The Sheriff is trying to "clear the boardwalk."

Those are very different things.
— Mike Bonin (@mikebonin) June 24, 2021

Editor's Note: This story was updated throughout with additional information.

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