Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti joined U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge, who serves as chair of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), at a virtual event to launch House America: An All-Hands-On-Deck Effort to Address the Nation’s Homelessness Crisis.
House America is a national partnership in which HUD and USICH invite mayors, county leaders, Tribal nation leaders, and governors to use the historic investments provided through the American Rescue Plan to address the crisis of homelessness through a Housing First approach by immediately re-housing and building additional housing.
“In Los Angeles we’ve committed historic resources to providing housing and services to our unhoused neighbors,” said Mayor Garcetti. “The Justice Budget we passed here in Los Angeles just a few months ago commits nearly a billion dollars of city money in this next year to ending homelessness. We’re using every tool at our disposal to tackle these challenges head on.”
House America is the federal government’s direct response to the crisis of homelessness, which was rising even before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, HUD released its 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report Part 1 to Congress, which found that more than 580,000 people experienced homelessness in the United States on a single night in January 2020, prior to the pandemic. COVID-19 has created greater urgency to address homelessness, given the heightened risks faced by people experiencing homelessness. At the same time, COVID-19 has slowed re-housing activities due to capacity issues and impacts on rental market vacancies.
Through the American Rescue Plan, Los Angeles City and County received 5,329 emergency housing vouchers and $99.9 million in HOME Investment Partnerships grants to help more residents obtain the safety of a stable home.
As a founding member of House America, Mayor Garcetti and the City of Los Angeles will partner with HUD and USICH to use these American Rescue Plan resources to re-house households experiencing homelessness through a Housing First approach, and to add new units of affordable housing into the development pipeline by December 31, 2022.
To learn more about House America, visit: www.hud.gov/house_america.
Submitted by HUD News
