LA mayor leads count of `thousands of brothers and sisters in the streets`

Jan. 26--VAN NUYS -- The mercury plunged toward the 30s when the city's highest-ranking enumerator of Los Angeles homeless residents spotted four figures huddled beneath a Van Nuys streetlight.

It was long after dark. The nation's largest homeless count was just underway. And Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti didn't just check off his clipboard Tuesday. He reached out for handshakes and a hug.

"Hi, I'm the mayor. How you guys doing?" he asked them. "Tonight is a count, to make sure you count. ... God bless, come to City Hall. I'll give you a nickel tour.

"Stay strong."

The 2017 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count had just kicked off in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys and East Los Angeles to start a three-day nightly tally in the chill of winter by more than 7,000 community volunteers, a record.

The annual count continued Wednesday in West L.A. and across the South Bay. It ends Thursday in downtown, South Los Angeles and across the Antelope Valley.

With millions of federal dollars at stake for the nation's homeless capital, it was vital not only to include each and every roofless resident to obtain maximum aid, officials said.

--RELATED STORY: LA County takes on largest homeless count in US --with a lot of help

It was imperative that nearly 50,000 homeless residents across the county be housed and get supportive services.

That was the message given Tuesday by L.A. County's top elected and homeless agency officials who had gathered at Los Angeles Family Housing Corp. in North Hollywood to officially lead off nearly 1,100 Valley volunteers who fanned out across 250 square miles of streets, parks, rivers and shelters.

"In my view, homelessness is a moral issue and a defining issue for the city and the county of Los Angeles and its 88 cities," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, a champion of county homeless initiatives. "What you're doing tonight clearly makes a difference ... to the epicenter for homelessness in the nation."

The $1.1 million count, administered by the Los Angeles Housing Services Authority and tallied for the first time by USC, aims to paint a better picture of what officials have called a "homelessness crisis."

Last year's count revealed about 47,000 homeless people across the county, up 5.7 percent from 2015. In Los Angeles, the number of homeless rose 11 percent.

--PHOTO ESSAY: Housing the Homeless

In the San Fernando Valley, the homeless population grew to 7,335, an increase of 35 percent.

In November, Los Angeles voters passed Proposition HHH, the city's property tax bond measure, which is expected to raise about $1.2 billion to build supportive housing for the homeless.

Officials used the spotlight Tuesday to stump for Measure H, a quarter-cent sales tax on the March ballot that would pay for social services linked to the new permanent supportive housing.

The plans to bring an end to homelessness -- and the ballooning blight of tents lining sidewalks and riverbanks across Los Angeles County -- are unprecedented. The recent rains flooded encampments and drowned one resident.

"All I could think about were those people living on the street, who had no roof over their head," said LAHSA Commission Chairwoman Wendy Greuel. "I want to do more."

L.A. Family Housing, now a hub for homeless services across the Valley, is building a $40 million north campus for permanent housing and supportive services expected to open in January 2018.

Residents at its south campus shelter said they were grateful to be among the counted. The results of this week's count, including a demographic survey of 6,000 residents, is expected to be released in May.

--RELATED STORY: How a once-seedy North Hollywood motel has become a model for helping the homeless

Fifty-nine-year-old Maureen Scott, who became homeless last year after she lost her job as an at-home caregiver, was among the 55 percent uptick in homeless women across L.A. County.

"I'm proud of who I am," said Scott, leaning on a cane. "I think some people think we're trash, because we're homeless. But we're people. We have feelings. I have dignity. I'm awesome."

Fifty-two year old Leon Lalime has been living in an Orange County riverbed after losing his job a year ago as an apartment manager and maintenance man. He's got no alcohol or drug problem, he said. "I was divorced. Bad decisions. Bad luck.

"And it feels good to be counted," said Lalime, tethered to his short-legged beagle, Lady. "I hope to be on my feet real soon."

At nearly 9 p.m., Garcetti headed out for the evening count in the company of Los Angeles police and a LAHSA Emergency Response Team.

As his van wended its way past rows of liquor stores, McDonald's restaurants and mostly empty sidewalks through census tract No. 12860 in Van Nuys, he spoke of the headway his administration has made to help L.A.'s homeless.

He spoke of the more than 22,000 formerly homeless people who have been housed in the city since 2014, including nearly 8,000 veterans and more than 7,000 chronically homeless residents.

He spoke of boosting spending on housing and services this year to $138 million, a nearly tenfold increase, which has drawn spending from the private sector.

And he spoke of trying to address the needs of a 75 percent increase in unsheltered Angelenos, which now number 21,000 out of 28,000 homeless residents across Los Angeles.

That means new crisis housing and new Healthy Streets initiatives, a No Wrong Door strategy for city workers to connect homeless residents with services, and so-called HOPE Teams that have visited 1,500 homeless encampments, swept up more than 500 tons of trash and found shelter or homes for more than 200 residents.

His homeless outreach teams have grown from 10 last year to nearly 50 this year.

"Fighting poverty, together with homelessness, is the thing I spend the most time on," said Garcetti, bundled up in a blue down jacket, a V-neck sweater and plaid button-down over khakis. "I ask myself: Who has been left behind?

"This is the most wrenching part of being mayor: to see the city succeeding in so many areas and to see thousands of brothers and sisters in the street."

--PHOTOS:

It was on Tyrone Avenue between Aetna Street and Van Nuys Boulevard that he slowly walked past 10 tents along a Van Nuys Park-n-Ride surrounded by old bicycles, boxes of clothes and stuffed animals. Piles of trash lined the opposite side of the street.

It was here that he encountered Derek and Justin Wien, twin brothers who'd been homeless for at least a year. Derek was on the verge of obtaining disability benefits. Justin had that day received a voucher to obtain a Section 8 apartment.

"Awesome, that is so great," Garcetti said. "I am so glad."

"It feels like I just met a big celebrity, like the president," said Derek Wien, 36, a former chef for Universal Studios, who'd met the mayor last fall during another walk-through.

"We're thrilled. I'm flattered," said his brother, Justin. "I feel blessed."

___ (c)2017 the Daily News (Los Angeles) Visit the Daily News (Los Angeles) at www.dailynews.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.