LONG BEACH, Calif. — The city of Long Beach is taking a novel approach to help reduce homelessness. On Tuesday, the city rolled out a pair of grant programs to help small businesses stay afloat and business improvement districts to draw visitors in an effort to counter some of the negative effects of homeless individuals. 

“It’s in all of our interest to make sure that small businesses thrive,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said Tuesday during his weekly update about the local homeless emergency proclamation the city approved three weeks ago. Last year’s point-in-time count identified 3,296 people who were experiencing homelessness in Long Beach, which has a population of 456,000.

Without attributing blame, the mayor acknowledged the city has recently experienced some break-ins that have caused damage to various businesses. To help them recover, Long Beach will offer $1,500 Visual Improvement Program grants to small businesses to pay for property damage or insurance deductibles incurred since October 2022.

Applications for the so-called VIP program will open on Feb. 22 and will continue until its $350,000 in funding is exhausted.

The city is also making $100,000 available to its 10 business improvement districts, or BIDs, to help them attract more visitors, whether it’s through events or marketing. BIDs allow business owners to pool together resources to create vibrant, clean and safe areas with beautification projects, cleanups and special events.

“Small businesses and business improvement districts in Long Beach help to ensure that we have the economic engine that’s strong enough to provide the jobs and the paychecks that keep our residents, safe, secure and housed,” Richardson said.

Small businesses create thousands of jobs and reduce unemployment, making them “the backbone of the Long Beach economy,” he said. “Small businesses generate tax revenue that goes right back into programs and services that help people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness.”

The two programs are the latest to be rolled out as part of the Long Beach Recovery Act the city passed in March 2021 to help with COVID-19 recovery using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. The Long Beach Recover Act was designed to provide $251.8 million in economic, public health and fiscal initiatives for residents and business owners affected by the pandemic through December 2024.