Los Angeles County’s Pathway Home program resolved another encampment in East Gardena, helping 72 people living in RVs, or recreational vehicles, move into interim housing while efforts to place them in permanent housing continue.
They brought their pets with them – 25 dogs and three cats – and left 41 unsafe, inoperable, and otherwise unlivable RVs which the County and its partners in the program took off the streets, along with 320 cubic yards of trash and debris.
Pathway Home is a critical component of LA County’s multi-pronged response to the homelessness emergency declared by the Board of Supervisors at the beginning of 2023. Leveraging emergency powers, partnerships with local jurisdictions, and Measure H funding, Pathway Home helps people in encampments come indoors by offering them a hotel or motel room or other type of immediately available interim housing, along with a comprehensive suite of supportive services that can help them achieve housing stability and ultimately move into permanent housing.
When selecting sites for encampment resolution, Pathway Home seeks to prioritize scarce resources in an equitable way. Among the considerations: the encampments are in communities disproportionately impacted by homelessness and poverty; the elevated potential of harm to encampment residents and neighboring communities from fires, flash floods, and other hazards; the strength of existing trusted relationships between the County’s outreach partners and the encampment’s residents; the size and scale of the encampment; and the availability of interim and permanent housing resources in the community or nearby.
Los Angeles County’s new Pathway Home program in unincorporated Gardena on Nov 6-7, 2023, was an all-hands-on-deck effort. (Mayra B. Vasquez/ Los Angeles County)