LOS ANGELES — As temperatures throughout the Southland begin to drop, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority is opening its Winter Shelter Program. Starting Tuesday, the county agency will offer 143 beds at five temporary emergency shelters and will also provide motel vouchers to unsheltered individuals in areas that experience severe weather.
In 2021, at least 14 homeless people in LA froze to death, according to LA County data. Individuals who sleep outdoors are at heightened risk of hypothermia, which occurs when a person is exposed to cold air, water, wind or rain at temperatures of 50 degrees or lower. More than 69,000 people in LA County experienced homelessness in 2022, according to the most recent LAHSA count.
The temporary emergency shelters are designed to keep people safe by providing a warm place to sleep as well as food, supportive services and housing assistance. Operated by LAHSA’s nonprofit service providers, the shelters will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week through March 31.
New this year, the Augmented Winter Shelter Program will provide emergency motel vouchers when severe weather events are declared. The agency said the new vouchers will enable it to serve parts of the county that experience the most severe weather but do not have access to traditional winter shelters.
LAHSA will activate the emergency motel vouchers when the National Weather Service forecasts three days of low daytime temperatures accompanied by night wind-chill temperatures of 32 degrees or lower; one inch of rain in 24 hours; or three consecutive days of one to four inches of rain or more, accompanied by temperatures at or below 50 degrees.
They will also be available if the National Weather Service issues a flood watch or warning, or when other conditions indicate the need is critical.
While devised for winter weather, LAHSA said the program could be a model for providing housing during other emergencies, such as extreme heat, earthquakes or wildfires.
“Our new model addresses the number of fixed beds that often went unused many nights and redirects those resources where extreme weather makes staying on the street the most untenable,” LAHSA Interim Executive Director Stephen David Simon said in a statement. “These new adjustments will further enhance the purpose of the Winter Shelter Program: to save lives.”
To receive a referral for a winter shelter bed or motel voucher, people experiencing homelessness should call 211. The five temporary emergency shelters are located at Volunteers of America LA in Lancaster, Home at Last in South LA, Whittier First Day in Whittier and Abundant Blessings locations in Central and South LA.