The city of Los Angeles is grappling with a homeless crisis that has left close to 70,000 people living on the streets and in tents that line the city blocks. Housing justice advocates from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and its housing division, Healthy Housing Foundation (HHF), have issued a $100 million matching challenge to the Los Angeles City Council. The challenge aims to address the issue of affordable housing in the city and encourage decisive action from the authorities.
The AHF has pledged to invest $100 million to buy and rehabilitate buildings over the next three years if the city, state, and federal governments will match it. The challenge, announced in a full-page, full-colour advocacy ad that began running on April 9, 2023, in the main news section of the Los Angeles Times, is called the “100,000,000 Homeless Challenge.”
“At $100,000 per housing unit, AHF’s challenge—should the city be bold enough to match it—would house as many as 2,000 of LA’s poorest residents and make a significant dent in housing our homeless population,” said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “At a time when five homeless people die on the streets of Los Angeles every day, we need urgent, decisive action.”
The $100 million challenge is not a perfect solution but a start. The hope is that it will make housing affordable for people who have been struggling to find a place to live. However, the city council needs to move quickly to match the challenge and ensure that the permit and inspection process is expedited and city fees are waived to make this a reality.
The homeless crisis in Los Angeles has been ongoing for years, and the situation has only gotten worse with the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for affordable housing has never been greater, and the AHF’s challenge is a timely call for action. The Los Angeles City Council needs to take up this challenge and provide the necessary support to make it a success. While the challenge may not be a complete solution to the homelessness crisis, it is a critical step toward ensuring that everyone in the city has access to safe and affordable housing.
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