A Van Nuys-based nonprofit that provides shelter and services to unhoused people is millions of dollars short and calling on the city to increase funding, sounding the alarm that a coalition of providers may lose up to 1200 beds in the city if something does not change.
Officials with Hope the Mission recently told the L.A. City Council city funding leaves it short by $20 million annually, largely because the city has been allocating only $60 per night to shelter each person. They say the amount needs to increase to $89, which isn’t on track to happen until June 2025.
Councilmember Bob Blumenfield told KNX News’ Craig Fiegener that the city and county have the money to close that gap, but they’ll have to get creative to pull it together in the short term.
“We're in a difficult financial situation right now where we're sort of scraping at our reserves,” he said. “It can be done – we are a $13 billion municipal corporation. That being said, you know, all the money is spoken for more than once over.”
A spokesperson for Hope the Mission told KNX News the nonprofit receives funding from private donors and other entities and does not rely solely on funding from the City of Los Angeles.
Blumenfield said L.A. County officials have agreed to “work even more closely” with the city in light of the passage of Measure A, which doubled the county’s sales tax for homelessness measures to a half cent.
Measure A is projected to raise $1.1 billion dollars for the county annually, but it’s unclear how quickly – and to whom – the money will be distributed.
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“The city doesn't get very much of that sales tax,” Blumenfield said. “This is part of the more fundamental problem that we have, which is that the city is supposed to pay for sort of the brick and mortar and building of these facilities, and the county is supposed to pay for needed services … We've been in the position where we're not getting the money from the county. We literally are raiding our general fund to pay for those services.”
Blumenfield said the coming challenge is to make sure the city gets its share of the tax revenue to pay for shelter and food.
A previous version of this story featured a headline indicating Hope the Mission is in danger of closing due to the funding shortfall. A spokesperson for Hope the Mission said the organization will not shutter even if the city does not increase its funding.
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