City continues to work towards preventing and combating homelessness
By Susan Motander
Last week we reported on the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority’s (LAHSA) release of its official homeless count for cities throughout the county. By LAHSA’s count Monrovia had a homeless population of 62 but the actual count taken by volunteers in the city put the number at 52. As City Manager Oliver Chi noted in his update this week, even though the numbers are not in agreement they both show the homeless count is down in Monrovia.
Read More: Homelessness Decreases In Monrovia
As Chi noted, LAHSA had a mysterious “revised methodology” that raised the count of those in shelters or tents from 10 that were counted to 23, but lowered the number of individuals from the 18 who were counted to 15 in their report. He noted that both counts showed a lower number of homeless in the community from the previous year.
Chi attributed this to the city’s relentless work to combat homelessness which includes the following:
- Being relentless and continually contacting anyone suffering from homelessness to offer housing and support services.
- Expanding community coordination in support of ending homelessness.
- Promoting the use of the Coordinated Entry System (CES).
- Developing educational materials in partnership with LA County.
- Developing a Monrovia-centric directed giving campaign in partnership with the Foothill Unity Center.
- Developing a local Monrovia Housing Displacement Response Plan.
The city’s efforts seem to be paying off. In addition to the work for those who are homeless, the city is also devoted to keeping families from becoming homeless. The effort, titled “Housing Displacement Response Plan,” was created in concert with Mountainside Communion Church. This program has resulted in 15 families from being displaced from their Monrovia homes. According to Chi, this means that 20 students did not have to leave Monrovia schools, and three seniors were able to remain in their homes.
