MORE TENTS DOWN AND MORE LIVES SAVED: Mayor Bass Houses Angelenos Living In Encampments Stretching Two City Blocks In Westlake

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LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced an Inside Safe operation today near the intersection of Lucas Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard in the Westlake neighborhood in partnership with Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez. The operation brought more than 25 Angelenos inside, including a family with a baby, and spanned two city blocks. The area addressed is 6 blocks east from MacArthur Park. Click herefor photos and b-roll of today's operation.

This is the second operation in three days - on Tuesday the Mayor's Office housed Angelenos living in tent encampments in Koreatown, some of whom had been living on the streets for years. Ongoing response efforts this week also brought more than 10 unhoused Angelenos living in South L.A. indoors. More than 3,000 Angelenos have come inside thus far through Inside Safe and homelessness has decreased in Los Angeles for the first time in years.

"This encampment stretched two city blocks near homes and businesses - now the community has access to the sidewalks again and Angelenos, who in some cases have been living on the streets for years, will sleep in a bed tonight," said Mayor Karen Bass. "I want to thank Councilmember Hernandez and all of our service provider partners for their tireless work to bring people off the streets and into housing as we continue urgent efforts to confront the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles."

"Our team has been working for several months to connect unhoused residents in these encampments with housing and services," said Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez. "Today's Inside Safe operation demonstrates that when we meet people with the care and housing they need, we can bring people indoors and off the streets for good. I am grateful to Mayor Bass for her collaboration and tireless work to address the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles."

Since her first day in office when she declared an unprecedented emergency on the homelessness crisis, Mayor Karen Bass has driven change in how we address homelessness with new initiatives to bring people living in encampments inside. She has also worked to prevent people from losing their homes and to lock arms across all levels of government to move people inside and save lives and restore neighborhoods.

Key results from the 2024 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count:

• Homelessness in the City of Los Angeles is down for the first time in six years.

• Unprecedented drop in street homelessness (10% decrease in the City of Los Angeles - the first double digit decrease in the last at least 9 years).

• A decrease in makeshift shelters (38% decrease in the City of Los Angeles).

• The number of people who moved into permanent housing is at an all time high.

Tent encampments have come down in every council district, and thousands more Angelenos came inside than in 2022 thanks to action locking arms with the City Council, County and LAHSA. The mayor has worked to improve services provided for unhoused Angelenos coming inside and has also been vocal about the need to make homelessness programs more cost effective as this urgent work continues.