Our hearts are with everyone who has been affected by the devastating fires in Los Angeles, which continue to threaten entire communities. Our unhoused neighbors have been displaced along with their neighbors who have lost their homes.
Protecting Our Most Vulnerable Neighbors
The Homeless Initiative is partnering with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), LA County Department of Health Services (DHS), LA County Department of Mental Health (DPH), LA County of Public Health (DPH), Department of Military and Veteran Affairs (DMVA), local jurisdictions, and other agencies to keep people experiencing homelessness safe. We are doing this by working to bring people inside and shielding them from the fires and their aftermath, including by ensuring those in interim housing needed to evacuate are able to safely stay indoors elsewhere.
Our primary effort is through the Emergency Centralized Response Center (ECRC), a call center launched in December 2024, which coordinates the operations of outreach teams, access to interim housing beds and other activities dedicated to helping unsheltered individuals across Los Angeles County’s 88 cities. ECRC has taken on the following activities to date:
- Safely evacuated more than 500 people experiencing homelessness from 17 interim housing sites located in fire danger zones to alternative settings
- Repopulated 14 of the evacuated interim housing sites
- Made interim housing placements for vulnerable, unsheltered individuals in the fire zones
- Had an ECRC representative at the Los Angeles County Emergency Operation Center (EOC) who functioned as a liaison between the EOC, ECRC, and the homeless response system to coordinate resources for people experiencing homelessness and service providers during the emergency
- Continued to deploy outreach teams to affected sites to provide fire safety education and disseminate critical resources (e.g. personal care items, water, food, clothing, etc.)
- Supplied N95/KN95 masks to outreach teams and unsheltered individuals, distributing nearly 6,000 masks to date
- Deployed outreach teams to Disaster Recovery Centers and Evacuation Centers to support individuals who were unsheltered before the current crisis
Additionally, the Homeless Initiative and our partners are supporting unhoused neighbors in the following ways:
- The Department of Military and Veteran Affairs opened the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall as a temporary interim housing site, providing emergency shelter for 150 veterans experiencing homelessness
- Department of Health Services’ Housing for Health’s (DHS-HFH) division deployed mobile clinic teams and clinical staff members to assess high risk clients in encampments and Evacuation Centers
- DHS-HFH contracted Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTS) are holding daily emergency huddles in all Service Planning Areas (SPAs) in LA County and working to coordinate and expedite help for people who were unsheltered prior to the current crisis
- MDTs are accessing motel vouchers for the most vulnerable people located within fire zones
- MDTs and all outreach teams are providing people experiencing unsheltered homelessness with fire safety education and methods to reduce fire risk
- DMH is providing mental health services for those who are staying at Evacuation Centers
- The County’s Mass Care & Shelter efforts are providing resources for all evacuees escaping fire zones, regardless of previous housing status
How You Can Help
LA County and our partners are dedicated to keeping everyone safe. If you or someone you know has been impacted by the wildfires in LA County and are looking for emergency support and services during these difficult times, please visit recovery.lacounty.gov for resources. Members of the public can also use 211 and LA-HOP.org to request outreach services for people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County.