What is WLAH?

Formed in February 2020, West LA Homeless (WLAH) is an independent group of local community volunteers who are committed to compassionately address the issues associated with homelessness. WLAH is open to everyone and firmly believes that sustainable solutions are dependent on the entire community’s participation and support.

Why are the homeless allowed to live on our streets, parks, doorsteps and under the freeways?

Homeless people have the same constitutional rights as anyone else. In California these rights include:

• The right to use public spaces without fear of discrimination or harassment by law enforcement

• The right to vote

• The right to non-obstructively seek healthcare, shelter, social services, legal aid, and education

• The right to privacy of property in public spaces

• The right to feel safe.

There are limits to these rights. These limits are generally defined by (1) the limits of criminal behavior, and public health and safety and (2) the ability of government agencies to effectively enforce these laws. These limits get stretched and create friction between the homeless and the community. Under our current public policy, there are no requirements that the homeless solve their issues by exercising these rights or a government entity to exercise it for them. They do not have to seek family help, healthcare or social services for mental illness, addiction or sickness. They do not have to seek shelter, legal aid or employment skills for other issues. A good percentage are simply unable to take advantage of the services available, but would with trusted assistance. This burden falls on the community. We are at a point that homeless have to be convinced by a caseworker that such services would improve their health and/or quality of life. The current city and county services lack the caseworker resources to link enough of the homeless with the services they need to reduce the city’s homeless population. WLAH is proposing the use of a combination of private donations, public grants and neighborhood support to provide professional caseworkers and volunteer efforts for assisting the homeless to regain their health and self-sufficiency to improve their quality of life.

Why do we need WLAH? Isn’t homelessness a city/county responsibility?

Dealing with homelessness is technically the responsibility of the County and City of Los Angeles. Realistically, City and County resources are simply inadequate to meet the increasing demand for community protection and homeless support services. WLAH recognizes that in order to protect and serve our community as well as our unhoused community members it needs to coordinate with and support City and County efforts.

What areas does WLAH serve? ​

We will service the colored areas that are South of Wilshire, East of the 405 Freeway, North of National and West of Club Drive and Century City.

How can I help?

 The best ways you can help and get involved are:

1. Volunteer.

2. Donate.

3. Speak Up. Talk to others in our community about the importance of connecting homeless people to supportive services and using outreach teams to bring the services to them.

What results do WLAH plan to achieve?

WLAH seeks to reduce the number of people experiencing homelessness in our service area by 50% over 4 years, while seeing an increased number of unsheltered people receiving services.