Today, California is witnessing a sharp increase of people who are losing their ability to afford a home due to increasing rent prices and cost of living. There are 25,000 people in the streets of Los Angeles - 400 in K-Town alone.
Some of the homeless people may spend the day in the streets, and there's also college students, children, people with jobs, and people who hide being homeless. Many consider the simple fact of being homeless a shame and frequently blame themselves solely regardless of the situation or circumstance that caused them to become homeless. This is the face of the homeless population today.
In response, the people of Los Angeles have spoken. In 2016, we voted for the City of Los Angeles to provide 275 million dollars to address this crisis through Measure HHH. The Mayor then approved $20M for the 2018-19 year budget to fund temporary shelters in all 15 districts. The City of Los Angeles is following our mandate - the Emergency Temporary Homeless Housing facility at 682 S Vermont Ave, announced on May 2, 2018 and currently being considered by the city, is the first, bold step.
KRC welcomes this move and will continue to share stories and provide information that counters the lies about homeless people and the proposed emergency housing.
(Photo by Shelter for All Koreatown)