Some Ask If City Is Doing Enough To Keep Angelenos Experiencing Homelessness Safe In Wake Of Pandemic
STUDIO CITY (CBSLA) — Angelenos experiencing homelessness are among the most vulnerable in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
In response to the crisis, city and state officials have announced increased efforts to safely house people, but encampments remain across the region, prompting some to ask: how effective are those efforts?
"Why aren't they going to them and trying to help them and why are they not even just keeping it clean or monitoring them?" Andrea Green, a woman who works in Studio City, asked. "Are they healthy? Are they hungry? It's really sad and it's like that under all the overpasses around here and it concerns me."
Drone video Wednesday showed a park-and-ride lot in Studio City that has been turned into a makeshift homeless encampment with recreational vehicles, broken down cars, bikes and trash scattered about.
"What are we gonna do," Frank Devi, a Studio City resident, said. "Are we gonna board them and take care of them and feed them and use taxpayer money for that? What are our options?"
And it's not just empty parking lots where people experiencing homelessness are finding places to sleep as encampments pop up under overpasses across the area — from the 134 Freeway at Lankershim to the 101 Freeway at Moore Park.
"I feel sad of course," Green said. "I feel bad, because they are hot."
Since the pandemic began, the state has converted several motels into temporary housing for those experiencing homelessness and, in Los Angeles, several recreation centers have been turned into emergency shelters. But some have asked why are there still so many people living on the streets if temporary housing is available?
When called for comment, the office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said nobody was available for an interview, but Dr. Heidi Behforouz, medical director of Housing for Health for L.A. County, said efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have been working.
"We've been able to apply swift action and have really been able to support people experiencing homelessness to not fall sick from COVID and have fortunately been successful in minimizing the spread of COVID among this very vulnerable population," she said.
The Department of Sanitation said it was also deploying teams to throughout the city to remove trash and disinfect encampment areas.
