Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis have all teamed together to launch a new initiative to bring more homeless Veterans inside and off the streets. 

Today’s new initiative follows some surprising numbers released last week by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. These numbers show that while homelessness is up 18 percent nationally, it is down in Los Angeles specifically. In fact, L.A. has seen a 10 percent reduction in street homelessness. Furthermore, last year, Veteran homelessness also decreased by 23 percent in Los Angeles and reached a record low nationwide.

“Our work to change the old and failed way of doing things is why we’re able to launch this new initiative and is why after years of increases locally and nationally, we’re bucking the trend and bringing homelessness down in LA,” said Mayor Bass. 

“For too long, too many in government have accepted people living on the street. I do not accept the humanitarian crisis on our streets, especially when it comes to Angelenos who have served and sacrificed their bodies for our country. This initiative will help connect Veterans with property owners who will benefit from guaranteed rent payments and tenants who have proven themselves to be honorable and reliable. If you have apartments available, join us in this patriotic effort to save lives.”

Support from the VA

“We are ecstatic at the VA to support this initiative,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “I have every confidence, as we say every day at VA, when we end homelessness for Veterans in Los Angeles, we will have shown America how to do it, and we are committed to making sure this gets done—today’s commitment to reach out to property owners, Mom-and-Pop landlords to get them to work with us as we do a better job executing our regulations. We are all in and we will not rest until every Veteran has precisely what she or he deserves, which is a dignified housing arrangement. So I thank you. We are thrilled to be part of this. We are committed to seeing this through.”

“I was sleeping in my car after I lost my job, but then I was able to get connected to services and find an apartment that accepted my federal housing voucher. I’m so grateful for the stability that having an apartment has provided me. I want to encourage any Veterans who are living on the streets to reach out and get help today, and I want to ask property owners in L.A. to consider being part of this new initiative launched by Mayor Bass and help more Veterans like me get housed,” said U.S. Navy Veteran Harold Hicks.

How to Aid the Campaign

The campaign launched by Mayor Bass and Secretary McDonough calls on every sector in Los Angeles to get involved:

Unhoused Vets

If you are an unhoused Veteran in need of support and housing assistance, call 310-268-3350 to get started.

Property Owners

Mayor Bass has worked with the VA, the Housing Authority of the City of L.A. (HACLA), and the Los Angeles County Development Authority (LACDA) to focus staff on referring and processing more eligible Veterans to be placed in permanent housing. Under the direction of HACLA’s new leadership, more support is being provided to rental housing providers and property owners throughout the application process and also after tenants have moved in. If you want to rent to unhoused Veterans and you have units available or want more information about renting your units to Vets, email [email protected].

Culture Leaders and Media Partners

The mayor’s office needs help spreading the word about increasing the number of units open to Veterans. To get involved, email [email protected].