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Frequently asked questions

Have questions about homelessness in L.A.? We’ve got answers.

How can I get involved?

Sign up and we’ll keep you updated on all our events, workshops, and advocacy opportunities so you can take action when the time comes and keep learning and growing as a community advocate along the way.

Join the movement

Check out our events calendar to see everything we have planned. We hope you can join us!

See our events calendar

We have regular workshops highlighting tips on how you can navigate tough conversations around housing and homelessness. Take a look at our events calendar to RSVP for the next one!

See our events calendar

How can I access services?

Start with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s help page. You can also contact one of these service providers in your community:

West L.A.

South L.A.

East L.A.

San Fernando Valley

San Gabriel Valley

Long Beach

South Bay

Central L.A.

Hollywood

Antelope Valley

Countywide

We hope this helps. In the meantime, we’re working every day to advocate for more housing and better access to these services.

Visit 211 for urgent help

You can request outreach services via the LA Homeless Outreach Portal (LA-HOP). LA-HOP is designed to connect people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County with outreach teams.

It is also helpful to offer basic necessities, such as food and water, or supplies like blankets or hygiene products. You can also feel free to ask the person directly.

See the LA-HOP homeless outreach portal

What are people doing to end homelessness?

Everyone In is a diverse coalition of neighbors working to end L.A. County’s housing and homelessness crisis through collective action and policy advocacy. We harness public will to put pressure on elected officials and push for the affordable and supportive housing our communities need.

Learn more about us

We will end homelessness when we make sure everyone has access to a home they can afford, as well as the support they need to stay housed.

That means creating more affordable and supportive housing countywide, leaning into the Coordinated Entry System (CES) to streamline the rehousing process, and expanding renter protections and housing subsidy programs.

Read the plan to end homelessness

There’s too much to fit here, but a few examples include outreach and case management, interim and permanent housing, job training, substance use treatment, and health care.

The key is to make sure these services have enough long-term resources to support everyone who needs them.

The short answer: too much and not enough. While recent years have seen record investment in homelessness services, oftentimes most of that money goes towards temporary fixes like shelters and mental health treatment—both of which are important, but neither of which solve homelessness.

This is why we don’t just advocate for increased spending. We advocate for increased spending on the only solution that works: housing. Because only homes end homelessness.

Housing is being created all over L.A. County, with a large portion of it being concentrated in the city of Los Angeles—the epicenter of the homelessness crisis.

Although we’re encouraged to see more housing for people experiencing homelessness in development, we need to do so much more.

Read the plan to end homelessness

Questions about housing types, myths, and development

Affordable housing units rent for less than the market rate and are reserved for people who earn less than a designated percentage of an area’s median income.

Supportive housing is affordable housing paired with on-site services and is typically reserved for especially vulnerable people, like those with disabilities or survivors of trauma. Services often include mental health care, job training, and/or substance use counseling. Residents pay 30% of their income to live in these units.

Learn more affordable and supportive housing

Immediate housing is a broad term that covers temporary housing, such as bridge housing and shelters.

These facilities are designed to provide safety and stability so residents can receive support and find permanent homes.

Immediate housing does not end homelessness, but it’s an important part of the larger effort to keep our unsheltered neighbors safe.

Rapid rehousing is a program that provides rent vouchers to people in danger of falling into homelessness. They might receive enough for a security deposit and then something on the order of three-to-six months of support. The idea is to step in and stop homelessness before it happens and to provide support long enough to get folks on their own two feet.

It is much more cost-effective to prevent homelessness through programs like rapid rehousing than it is to wait until after someone loses their home.

Voter-approved funding for rapid rehousing has kept thousands of Angelenos from experiencing homelessness since 2017.

Although affordable and supportive housing has been shown to save taxpayers money by reducing the number of unhoused people who must rely on public services, these housing development projects are subject to additional approval processes, funding needs, and regulations. The added red tape extends timelines and contributes to overall expenses.

This is why bills like Measure H and programs like United Way of Greater L.A.’s Affordable Housing Initiative are so important, as they help finance and streamline this process.

California’s permitting and entitlement process for affordable and supportive housing is notoriously complex and lengthy, which is one of many factors discouraging developers from taking on these projects at all.

A single project can take between six and ten years to complete as developers seek funding from federal, state, and local agencies; negotiate contracts; and navigate the overwhelming bureaucracy.

The county builds more interim housing like shelters and bridge housing every year. However, it’s important to remember that creating more homes—not shelters—is the end goal.

Shelters are vital for temporary support, but affordable housing is how people transition out of homelessness long term.

Stable housing is a critical part of the foundation people need in order to find security in other areas of their lives. This is because the stresses of homelessness take a massive physical, mental, and emotional toll, which hugely reduces the likelihood of successfully completing a treatment program, finding employment, or fulfilling the other prerequisites often attached to housing services.

This is why we endorse “Housing First”—a highly successful strategy that gives people access to supportive housing first, then provides complementary resources such as job training, education, counseling, and substance use treatment. Retention rates through Housing First are over 90% (see our Housing Explained page for more).

Making people jump through hoops to access housing is not only inhumane but also ineffective. Housing should always be step one.

Learn more about Housing First

Absolutely. And according to The California Homeless Housing Needs Assessment—created by our partners at the California Housing Partnership and CSH—we know it will only take 2.7% of the state’s budget as of 2022 to make it happen.

Not only is this completely doable, but in the long term, this will actually cost the state less money. Expanding our affordable housing supply to meet our communities’ needs is ethically, socially, politically, and financially the best choice.

Check out the CA Homeless Housing Needs Assessment

In short, because more people are falling into homelessness than transitioning out of homelessness. This is why it’s critical that we push for policies that connect people with housing and keep them from losing their homes in the first place.

You’re not alone. However, more and more studies show that when communities create affordable housing, they can experience a wide range of benefits, including higher property values and lower crime rates, as described by Bloomberg and the UCI School of Social Ecology.

Facts about homelessness

This is a common misconception. According to LAHSA’s 2023 Homeless Count, only 25% of folks experiencing homelessness in L.A. County have a mental illness and only 30% struggle with substance use.

Check out the 2023 Homeless Count

From housing explainers to kid-friendly lesson plans, we’ve got you covered.

Take a look at our resources