WEST HOLLYWOOD—West Hollywood’s Homeless Initiative aims to address homelessness with a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency, collaborative response. The city has partnered with funded social service agencies, with the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, with the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station, and with Los Angeles County agencies to provide a wide variety of services that reduce homelessness and support people who are experiencing homelessness.
West Hollywood will host a virtual Community Update Meeting on Wednesday, February 16 at 6 p.m. The meeting will take place via Zoom. Advance registration is requested and community members are asked to submit questions in advance when registering for the event via Zoom. Detailed information and a Zoom meeting registration link are posted on the City’s website at www.weho.org/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/24823/15.
As noted on the city of West Hollywood website, the Community Update Meeting will give community members the opportunity to learn about the latest details on the City’s Homeless Initiative, including recent outcomes from City-funded organizations that directly help people experiencing homelessness in moving from the streets into housing. Meeting attendees will get a look of new projects in development that respond to community needs and make significant progress toward the goals of the City’s Five-Year Plan to Address Homelessness in Our Community.
The meeting discussion will include a special focus on current efforts West Hollywood is taking to secure Homekey financial support from the state of California, which could create an opportunity to provide an interim housing site in West Hollywood where community members could access resources, connect to services, and move off the street. The event will provide insight into additional steps for this effort and will offer community members details about other ways to get involved in the Homeless Initiative.
During the Community Update Meeting, attendees will hear from a variety of speakers including members of the West Hollywood City Council – Mayor Lauren Meister and Mayor Pro Tempore Sepi Shyne, who comprise the City Council’s Subcommittee on Homelessness – as well as staff members and representatives of the city’s contracted services providers. Outreach teams that work with unhoused community members will share about how they do their outreach work and about the challenges faced by housed and unhoused community members as a result of the nationwide housing and homelessness crisis.
The West Hollywood Homeless Initiative is supervised by the West Hollywood’s Strategic Initiatives Division in coordination with the City’s Social Services Division; both Divisions are part of the City’s Human Services and Rent Stabilization Department.
Residents concerned about community member who is experiencing homelessness, call the West Hollywood Homeless Initiative Concern Line at (323) 848-6590. If time-sensitive assistance is needed during nights or weekends contact the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station 24/7 at (310) 855-8850.
For more details about the Homeless Initiative contact Elizabeth Anderson, West Hollywood Strategic Initiatives Program Administrator, at (323) 848-6839 or at eanderson@weho.org. For additional information, visit www.weho.org/homeless. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, call TTY (323) 848-6496.
