Pathway Home is an LA County Homeless Initiative-led encampment resolution program that brings people off the streets, into immediately available interim housing accompanied by a comprehensive suite of supportive services and, ultimately, permanent homes. Each Pathway Home operation can culminate weeks, months, and even years of outreach by trained professionals to establish trust, provide urgent necessities such as first aid and food, and encourage people to accept the county’s offer of housing.
Robert, George, and Donald are three of the more than two dozen individuals who moved off the streets during a recent Pathway Home operation in the West Athens area. Now in safe interim housing, they are being connected to vital resources and services to continue their journeys to long-term housing stability.
An LA County Sheriff Homeless Outreach Service Team (HOST) deputy initially connected with Robert, who had been living in a recreational vehicle (RV) parked in various locations throughout South LA, two years ago. On the day of the Pathway Home operation, Robert was apprehensive about leaving behind many of the items he had collected over years of living on the streets. The HOST deputy, who had built a mutual trust with Robert, connected with him one-on-one and helped him to feel comfortable leaving these items behind and moving into interim housing with his two dogs. We got him back to ‘yes’,” the deputy said. Once Robert arrived at the motel being operated as interim housing, he smiled at the prospect of a clean bed, a hot shower, and a team offering him support.
Robert pets his dog ÒThorÓ in their new Pathway Home interim housing in West Athens, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker)
George had been homeless for nearly two years after losing a shared housing arrangement in Glendale. He was living in an RV when a HOST deputy contacted him offering resources and a path to housing. George said he is looking forward to the stability of housing and no longer worrying about his safety. He is also excited to start focusing on a return to work in the music and entertainment industries.
“I’m very grateful,” George said of the Pathway Home program. “Now that I’m taking advantage of the services. At first, I didn’t believe it, but I’m very, very grateful.”
George stands in the doorway of his Pathway Home interim housing in West Athens, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker)
Donald fell into homelessness more than 10 years ago after spending over a decade in and out of prison. Without a social safety net to lean on, he had been living in tents, mostly in small encampments near the I-105 freeway in Hawthorne, South LA and West Athens. Now in his 60s, Donald looks forward to a healthier living situation and no longer experiencing the safety threats that come with living outside.
Donald sits on the bed in his new Pathway Home interim housing in West Athens, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker)
The recent West Athens operation was the eighth to use funds from the $51 million California Encampment Resolution Fund (ERF) grant to help grow the Pathway Home program. To date, these operations have connected more than 250 people with interim housing who had been living alongside the Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers, and near the I-105 freeway.