HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Just a block away from the Walk of Fame, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti describes a Hollywood success story.

“We built a ship now that is actually functioning, and that ship needs to get bigger and bigger," Garcetti said.

This stretch of Selma Avenue used to be a tent city until a few months ago when a new Bridge Housing shelter opened with 72 beds for folks coming directly off the street.

“Those are real people. People who are off the streets of L.A." he said.

Garcetti invited Spectrum News 1 cameras to join as he visited Monday.

Bridge Housing was welcomed in Hollywood, but it's facing resistance across the city.

Critics point to the remaining encampment a few blocks away.

“I know this is a city with a huge heart," Garcetti said. "This is a state that I think wants to do the right thing, but we need everyone’s help. No one person will do this alone.” 

“There’s a lot of programs trying to help, so today it was actually a big deal meeting him and see him come our here and show that respect and acknowledgment of us being people,” said Steven Jones.

Jones came to Hollywood from the projects in Sacramento, chasing music industry ambitions. But he ended up on the sidewalk.

“L.A. is where everyone wants to chase their dreams and see the magnificence of the world and Hollywood at its full," Jones said. "But when you get here, it’s not the bright lights and the shows and all that. It’s a lot of poverty and helplessness especially for us who come to work on our craft and our art."

“I'd be thrilled to have another Bridge Housing here. I think the city has made a big priority of making this work for the neighbors," said Marian Bell, a parent at the nearby elementary school.

She said Bridge Housing has changed this neighborhood for the better.

With the shelter, the streets are cleaned and bleached once a week.

“I don’t think anything is going to be perfect and I don’t think anything is going to be easy. It’s made a big impact," Bell said.

“We’ve gone from 9,000 people a year being housed on the street to 22,000," Garcetti said. "If you would have told me four years ago we doubled the solutions, I’d say were were on our way home to ending homelessness.”

But even here the solutions can't come quickly enough.

The wait list to get into the current shelter is triple the number of beds.

While the city is helping more of the homeless than ever, people are ending up on the streets faster than the city can house them.