Members of the Culver City Homelessness Committee learned
how attempting to address the needs of the homeless of Los Angeles County is a
multi-faceted and complex process.
Recently, the City’s Housing Department scheduled a tour for the
Committee of the Winter Shelter located on the Veterans Administration’s
facility on Wilshire/Federal. First to
Serve, which was the organization selected by Los Angeles County to run this
shelter for the 2011/2012 winter season, informed and enlightened the Committee
on its operations, policies, successes and challenges.
A Bit of History
As a
recently appointed member of the Culver City Homelessness Committee, I have a limited
amount of knowledge about the long-term functioning of the Winter Shelter in
Culver City. However, the Culver City
Housing Department did supply me with all of the minutes from the Homelessness
Committee since its inception. My
information is based upon my reading of all of those minutes plus other
information that I have been given on the issue being a committee member. I have not reviewed this article with Housing
staff, so please forgive small errors; however, the crux of what I write below
is accurate.
The
Winter Shelter has been operating in Culver City since at least July, 2004, at which time the Culver City council created
a “Good Neighbor Policy” for the operation of the “Cold Weather Shelter.”[i] The shelter began operation and continued
operation at the Armory located at 10808 Coombs Avenue. The City of Culver City owns this property,
but for quite some time (again, at least since July, 2004) the City has leased
this property on a long-term lease to the United States National Guard, which
used it for their activities. Since the
National Guard had limited use for the property, during the winter months starting
in 2004, the National Guard, on the urging of Culver City, sub-let the property
to various agencies to use as an overnight cold weather shelter.
The National Guard leased the property from the City of Culver City for $1 per year: clearly a good-faith effort on the part of our city leaders to show deference to our military.
The
operation of cold weather shelters throughout the entire county of Los Angeles
is handled primarily by an umbrella organization called the Los Angeles
Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA).
Being that homelessness is a social challenge that does not have neatly
contained borders, it can make senses for cities to partner with a larger,
regional organization to handle the complex issues surrounding homelessness.
Each
year, (I would imagine, per the terms of the lease described above), the
National Guard had to agree to sub-let the property to LAHSA. LAHSA annually seeks locations for its cold
weather shelters to serve homeless populations throughout Los Angeles
County. The Armory in Culver City
provided a convenient location for many of the homeless throughout the Los
Angeles west-side. LAHSA, in turn,
contracts with smaller agencies that would handle the actual operation of the
shelter on a night-to-night basis. Some
of these organizations included Volunteers of America (VOA) and The Center for
Human, Economic and Community Development (EIMAGO, Inc.).
LAHSA
operates, via its various partners, these shelters throughout Los Angeles
County from about mid-October through the end of February. The intent is that emergency shelters be
available to homeless individuals during times of the most severe cold and rain
in Los Angeles. Individuals are picked
up from designated areas throughout Los Angeles in the early evening and are bused
to the shelters. From a technical
standpoint, individuals are not allowed to simply “walk up” to a shelter and be
admitted. They must first go to a
designated pick-up location and then they are bussed, free of charge, to the
nearest shelter.
The
organizations that run each shelter first screen the individuals when they
arrive to be sure they are not intoxicated, provide dinner that night, provide
a cot, provide a sack lunch the next morning, then bus the individuals back to
the location from which they were picked up.
The two
closest locations for bussing to the Culver City shelter were located at the
Venice Pier and at the Westchester Park.
Culver City Cold Weather Shelter
2011/2012 Season
This
last winter season, we did not operate the Cold Weather Shelter in Culver City. The Armory’s lease was set to expire around
the date that the shelter would normally go into operation. Because of this, the Armory was not able to
commit the facility via sub-lease to LAHSA.
As a result, homeless individuals in and around Culver City would most
likely have made use of the bussing that would take them to either the VA
facility on Wilshire/Federal or a shelter that LAHSA arranged for in Inglewood.
The
Culver City Homelessness Committee toured the facility located at the VA at
Wilshire/Federal which LAHSA partnered with First to Serve to run. First to Serve gave the committee an
enlightening tour as the first busses of individuals were arriving showing us
the shower facilities, the intake station, the kitchen and the sleeping
area. The set-up is essentially in a
very large warehouse space where approximately 150 cots are assembled at one
end. At the other end, there are
tables. In the middle, First to Serve
had assembled chairs around a large television set, which was playing the local
news. The sleeping area is divided with
men in cots on one side of the room and women on the other side. They also have an area monitored by staff
where individuals can place some of their belongings.
We met with the staff of First to Serve who were serving meals. We also met with the intake staff. The intake staff attempts to gather as much data on the homeless individuals as they are willing to supply. This helps the staff to connect those who are interested with social services including medical care, psychiatric care and housing. Unless an individual is a danger to him/herself, however, the staff cannot mandate that they take or receive services. From our observation, the staff maintains a well-functioning facility that is respectful of the neighborhood (individuals, once they enter, are not permitted to leave until they are bussed out in the morning). Once the busses take the individuals back to pick-up locations, First to Serve must immediately break down all cots, clean the area, and remove their items so that the military can use the facility for their business. In the late afternoon, the process begins all over again.
Conclusion
This should probably be an article that I write over the course of several months because the Homelessness Committee is involved in more than just the Cold Weather Shelter (which no longer exists in Culver City). For example, there is weekly (and daily, if needed) outreach to Culver City homeless by the Saint Joseph’s Center. Additionally, police and fire also interact with and serve the homeless population, as well as Culver City citizens and businesses, when there are issues or complaints. Since parks can be a safe and clean environment, they are often the location that homeless individuals will attempt to stay in during the day and evening hours, so there are relationships with the Parks and Recreation Commission that our Committee engages in. Additionally, our city has a variety of amazing organizations that seek to serve various homeless populations such as Upward Bound House and non-profit, volunteer organizations such as Shoes for the Homeless.
Committee members are also responsible for listening to the needs and concerns of residents and businesses. And our committee then advises City Council on all of the above items.
From a policy standpoint, the City is now considering how it will use the Armory facility now that the National Guard has left. Once strong possible candidate according to recent conversations with the City and Chamber of Commerce would be the Wende Museum—one of the premier museums that focuses on the Cold-War era. The excellent proximity of the museum to our burgeoning downtown could be an additional draw for tourism and cultural events. On the other hand, city leaders will look at and weigh alternate uses of the facility.
The intent of this article is to educate not to polarize. I’m hopeful that it will spark conversation and interest in what I consider to be a vitally important societal issue: how we treat and deal with those less fortunate in our society. I welcome questions and/or comments. And if there is interest in attending a Culver City Homelessness Committee meeting, they are open to the public, and I am happy to provide information on dates and times. Please contact me on my cell phone at 831-682-5647 or by email at cpk@cpkmortgage.com.
[i]
Letter from Jerry B. Fulwood, Administrative Office, City of Culver City,
August 30, 2004.
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