Los Angeles County’s Pathway Home program brought 20 people experiencing homelessness off the streets of Hawthorne and into safe interim housing, where they will receive supportive services and other resources to help them transition out of homelessness and into permanent housing.
“LA County continues to make significant progress in helping our unhoused residents move from unhealthy and unsafe conditions on the street to housing and supportive services,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell said. “These comprehensive efforts under Pathway Home help break the cycle of homelessness by putting our neighbors onto a journey toward permanent housing and stability.”
“We are happy with the County’s use of Measure H funds for such a practical and immediate solution to the emergency posed by the number of unhoused people in the city,” said Hawthorne City Manager Vontray Norris.
Hawthorne Homeless Services Program Manager Dulce Medina added, “The Measure H funds and the County’s commitment, in collaboration with our City, to have an all-hands-on-deck approach to bringing our unhoused neighbors in Hawthorne from encampments to indoors provide a path for stability and hope.”
The LA County Homeless Initiative collaborated with the Office of Supervisor Mitchell and the City of Hawthorne to conduct the Pathway Home operation on February 8, 2024.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), Harbor Interfaith Services, Mental Health America Los Angeles (MHALA), and the City of Hawthorne were essential to bringing unsheltered residents indoors as they had built trusting relationships with them by providing engagement and support during their unhoused experience.
LAHSA, the nonprofit service providers PATH and Catholic Charities – St. Margaret’s Center will support them at the motel operating as their interim housing location. The LA County Chief Executive Office and the LA County Departments of Health Services, Mental Health, Public Health, and Public Works, were also critical partners, along with CalTrans.
Pathway Home is an LA County Homeless Initiative-led encampment resolution program that is a critical component of the County’s comprehensive response to the local emergency on homelessness adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2023. By leveraging emergency powers and partnerships with local jurisdictions, Pathway Home is a full-circle solution that brings people off the streets into immediately available interim housing accompanied by a comprehensive suite of supportive services and, ultimately, into safe, permanent homes.