**PRESS RELEASE**
INSIDE SAFE EFFORT ALONG LA RIVER BRINGS 44 PEOPLE INDOORS BEFORE RAINSTORM
A Warm Bed, Meals, and Services Offered to All
LOS ANGELES – Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Bob Blumenfield announced that the latest Inside Safe initiative was conducted along the entire length of the Los Angeles River in the Third District, ahead of the rains, on Thursday with 44 people moving indoors into motel rooms.
“Especially when it rains, the LA River is an unsafe place for people to set up camps and for years I have been working to offer better options for people who have chosen to live in this flood control area and along the bike path,” said Councilmember Blumenfield. “I am so pleased and grateful that Mayor Bass and the Inside Safe team were able to pull together to safely move people indoors from the River and help them get on the path to housing.”
“We are bringing Inside Safe to more and more communities to save lives and restore neighborhoods,” said Mayor Bass. “Thank you to Councilmember Blumenfield for working with us to bring Inside Safe to the Valley. This initiative is only possible because we are locking arms with the County, service providers and the community.”
This Inside Safe effort was led by Hope the Mission, the service provider for the two Cabin Communities/Tiny Home programs in Blumenfield’s district, and incorporated their Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT). Teams from LAHSA, Hope the Mission and the San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center have conducted weeks of proactive outreach along the LA River along with rangers from the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) who provide naturalists and patrol along the River.
"At Hope the Mission, we know that getting people inside is oftentimes the starting point towards permanent housing. We are incredibly thankful to work closely with Mayor Karen Bass's office and that of Councilmember Bob Blumenfield to quickly open the newest Inside Safe site in Los Angeles,” said Ken Craft, CEO of Hope the Mission. “Together, within a four-day period, the housing site was located, teams were mobilized, staff was hired and unhoused individuals living dangerously around the LA River were brought indoors. Great things can happen quickly when there is vision and provision to respond to the homeless crisis."
From Owensmouth to Lindley, an approximately three-mile stretch along both sides of the LA River, the operation began at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday and will continue through today to encourage more people to move indoors. This area of the LA River includes many storm drain outlets, some of which have been used for habitation and are particularly dangerous when they are filled with water. Additionally, the street underpasses along the River have been used for shelter and storage, creating dangerous conditions above the bike path and potentially destabilizing the roads above when individuals dig in underneath the roadbed to create a cave-like shelter. In addition to the flood control issues, the River has limited access points which means anyone experiencing an emergency in this area is difficult to reach by first responders.
“For seven-and-a-half years during our monthly river cleanups, we’ve tried to connect our unsheltered in the area with resources but have always felt it wasn’t enough,” said Evelyn Aleman, co-founder of the L.A. River Walkers and Watchers, a group of residents and neighbors who volunteer to preserve the recreational corridor along the Los Angeles River in the West San Fernando Valley. “We’re excited and hopeful that this collaboration between Councilmember Blumenfield, the Mayor’s Inside Safe program and our community will turn things around for so many people who need this level of outreach, care and support,” added Aleman.
Inside Safe is a new, citywide, proactive housing-led strategy to bring people inside from tents and encampments, and to prevent encampments from returning. Inside Safe supports the following five goals:
Reduce the loss of life on our streets
Increase access to wrap-around treatment for those living in encampments
Eliminate street encampments
Promote long-term housing stability for people experiencing homelessness
Enhance the safety and hygiene of neighborhoods for all residents, businesses, and neighbors
Inside Safe supports the following citywide outcomes:
Decrease the number and size of encampments across the city
Decrease the time of moving someone from an encampment into housing
Increase interim and permanent housing placements
Increase access to wrap-around treatment for people experiencing homelessness
Read the Inside Safe Executive Directive here.
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