LOS ANGELES — Standing on the other side of each door they knock on could be a family desperate for help. A family that might be struggling to pay their rent or may already be facing eviction.

What You Need To Know

  • According to recent data from the LAHD, more than 104,000 tenants have received eviction notices and more than 300,000 are at risk of receiving them

  • Homelessness grew by 10% in the city of Los Angeles in 2023 and 9% in Los Angeles county

  • Officials say despite housing tens of thousands of people each year, more people are falling into homelessness

  • A new program hoping to plug the eviction-to-homelessness pipeline has helped 39,333 tenants stay housed since they launched in November 2023

LaBomba Jackson is the lead outreach coordinator with the group, We Are Los Angeles. His team goes door-to-door, asking tenants if they need rental assistance, legal aid or help signing up for government assistance programs.

“People may be going through this process, but they have no way of getting in touch with the resources that can assist them,” Jackson said.

The group also has an office, and a hotline, to try to reach as many tenants as they can.

We Are Los Angeles launched last November, through the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, an independent organization that’s working to address some of the issues that Mayor Karen Bass has prioritized, including eviction prevention.

With more than 46,000 people experiencing homelessness in the city of Los Angeles, according to the latest LAHSA point-in-time homeless count, experts say slowing the eviction-to-homelessness pipeline, will help officials tackle the crisis. But according to data from the LA Housing Department, they’re facing an uphill battle.

More than 104,000 renters are currently dealing with eviction notices, and more than 300,000 are at risk of receiving them.

Dalia Zuniga is one of those tenants who is facing eviction. She’s a mother of two who says she recently separated from her husband and soon after, found out he hadn’t been paying their rent. She said moving now would disrupt her family’s life.

“We’ve been there for two years now, so you know, and plus my son’s school is there, my daughter’s daycare, my work," Zuniga said. “It’s hard. That’s my home.”

The goal for this program, Jackson says, is to help tenants like Zuniga, when they need it the most, because according to their research, thousands of renters might slip through the cracks without realizing they have options to remain housed.

“If we were not out knocking doors, answering phone calls, on the phone bank or the hotline, people would just not have those resources and they would most likely end up in our unhoused population, which is only getting larger,” Jackson said.

So, they continue to do this work, hoping to keep people off the streets, and in their homes, one door knock at a time.