In a groundbreaking agreement, all 15 members of the Los Angeles City Council have pledged to build 222 housing units for homeless people in each of their own districts.
Each lawmaker will have until July 1st, 2020 to finish building the units in addition to any units already approved since last summer.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the pledge ensures that each district will host an equal amount of units so that the homeless population will not be shoved into a corner of the city or centered in one area. While the pledge is not legally binding, each council member has agreed to pull their own weight in the city’s struggle to end homelessness.
“We see too much fearfulness by elected officials and neighborhood leaders and others that if you provide services to the homeless, if you build housing for the homeless, somehow that’s going to create additional problems for the neighborhood,” said council member Paul Krekorian at a news conference last month. “I’m here to say, this is the solution to problems in the neighborhood.”
The units will put the city on track of its goal of building at least 10,000 units for homeless residents within the next 10 years.
With Los Angeles voters backing a $1.2 billion bill (Proposition HHH) to fund homeless housing and supportive services last year, the city is well on its way to achieving those ambitions.
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