Long Beach city officials will be studying how to serve this sector of the homeless population. The City will be looking at ways to connect the homeless in cars and RVs with resources to get them off the streets entirely and to review the potential to provide areas in which it is safe to park overnight. City staff will also be looking at the potential impact to the surrounding communities and how other cities have addressed the issue.
The city’s Department of Health and Human Services reported 231 individuals who are living in their cars and RVs at this time, according to a staff report from 2nd District Councilmember Jeannine Pearce.
“In the past year, Long Beach has provided shelter to 1,738 individuals,” Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said in a September press statement regarding the homeless issue. The City has made continuous efforts to address the needs of the homeless by adopting the so-called “5 Key Community Strategies” back in 2010. Garcia also noted in his statement last month that the City achieved its goal to end chronic homelessness among veterans.
There are problems that come with life in the streets. These individuals have to not only find a safe place to park without being cited by law enforcement, but they also face the stress of daily living— everything from finding bathroom facilities to staying warm.
Homeless advocate Giovanna Ferraro acknowledges she has a passion for these people, and she has a very personal reason why she has dedicated her time to serve them. Her father lived out of his car, and Ferraro had to see the effects of this life on the road take a toll on his health. When he died, she went through his car to take care of the stuff he left behind, a range of things from dirty forks to dirty underwear.
Ferraro stresses the need to connect individuals with resources, but she understands why many of them fail to seek help, noting that relationships between homeless individuals and those who can provide aid need to be cultivated over time.
Ferraro knows that there are questions that would have to be answered in order for the City to properly address the issues and get the community residents on the same page.
“The biggest thing I can say to people!is you have to change your mindset before you can even approach a problem or a complaint or anything that you have to say about what’s going on in regards to this issue,” Ferraro said, “especially if you’re not homeless.” She stresses an outlook that promotes a best outcome for both the residents and the homeless and discourages the impulse to solve the homeless issue by simply moving them out of sight.
“So, if you suddenly get everyone living in cars who are homeless and you get them to the point where! they’re so bombarded with tickets on the car!and they’re getting cited and all these other things, they will be then on the streets homeless,” Ferraro concluded, adding that at least they have a place to sleep if they stay in their automobiles.
Andrew Kerr is a representative of the 8th Council District to the Homeless Services Advisory committee and serves as that committee’s vice chair.
He said he hopes the City will also find solutions on how to address the needs of the homeless by also working with nonprofit partners and address those issues in conjunction with other agencies in the surrounding area.
“Maybe there’s a way that we can work on this issue as a region and not just look at what can be done just [within] the city of Long Beach,” Kerr said.
Signal Hill Councilmember Larry Forester agreed with the regional approach. He acknowledged that once the City of Long Beach implements any new policy, it will be addressed by city leaders in Signal Hill. He voiced concern over the impact of a homeless encampment near Willow Springs Park close to the border between the two cities and the closure of downtown Long Beach’s Lincoln Park in, which also has a major homeless population who will need to find other places to stay.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) estimated that 35 homeless individuals were living in Signal Hill, including about 14 people who lived in RVs or campers and two who live in their vans.
Councilmember Pearce proposed that the staff report on the issue be returned to the Long Beach Council within 60 days.
