Its been just over a year since the City of Los Angeles launched its first bridge housing site at El Pueblo. The 45-bed facility, dubbed El Puente, has managed to care for and house a little more than double its capacity in that time, matching people with services and housing, but its operator says the lack of permanent supportive housing in Los Angeles is making it hard to meet expectations.

One year in and El Puente (Spanish for The Bridge) is seeing results but John Maceri, CEO of The People Concern, the nonprofit that operates the facility, said that the site (at 711 N. Alameda St.) is tracking slightly behind goals in linking people with permanent supportive housing.

A total of 92 people have received service since the shelter opened, 13 of which were moved into permanent supportive housing. Maceri said that in some cases people have gone to other interim housing spaces, while others went into sober living for health reasons. One person was taken to a medical space for more serious health concerns.

We have several others in the housing search, several who have gone back to work full time, such as at the museums in El Pueblo, and weve had several residents who have reunited with family and friends and have been able to return home, Maceri told Los Angeles Downtown News.

Although there is no time limit for shelter stays and no one is forced out after a certain period, the El Puente shelter launched with the goal of having people remain at the shelters for three-six months, before moving into permanent supportive housing. However, despite the shelter serving twice its capacity over the past 12 months, the amount of people transitioning into new homes has been impacted by a lack of permanent supportive housing.

The El Puente shelter opened on a city-owned parking lot on Sept. 7, 2018 and is the first outpost of Mayor Eric Garcettis A Bridge Home program. The program, first announced last year, is meant to provide transitional housing, matched with services, where people could get help before moving into permanent supportive housing. The idea is to open at least one shelter in every City Council district, however only Council Districts One, Four, Eight, 13 and 14 have opened shelters since the start of the program.

The People Concern operates the El Puente space, while outreach teams from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority canvas the area around El Pueblo for people who need the services. The first year of operations was budgeted at $2.4 million, while the next two years are each budgeted at $1.3 million.

A spokesman for LAHSA said that the agency is currently reviewing its findings from the first year of operations.

Maceri noted that many of the housing programs run by LAHSA have a low vacancy, due to high demand given the homelessness crisis in the city and county.

The past year has seen homelessness increase at a startling rate. LAHSAs annual homeless count found a 16% increase over last year in the city, with a 12% rise in the county.

Many permanent supportive housing projects funded by Proposition HHH, a $1.2 billion bond passed by voters in 2016, are in construction or planning stages, but have been slow to open while rental costs has gone up across the city.

Amy Perkins, director of interim housing strategies for the Mayors Office, acknowledged the slow arrival of HHH-funded units. Perkins said although the system for moving eligible people into El Puente as soon as a bed opens works, the overall lack of long-term housing is slowing down the turnover of beds.

If anything, its just cemented that we need tons more affordable housing options, she said. Even when our system is working so beautifully, with on-site cases being operated and services offered, its a slow process.

Low Barrier

One of the main strategies behind the A Bridge Home program is that each shelter is meant to have a low barrier for entry, meaning people do not need to be sober to enter and receive services. Maceri said that a year into operations, El Puente is maintaining that low threshold, however that too poses challenges.

The challenge with that is that sometimes people are not ready to engage in treatment, or engage in medication, he said. In those cases we have to work to manage that in the context of a community living project, which is true in all of our interim housing programs. It is much easier to work with people who are in treatment or are medically compliant.

LAHSAs outreach teams also remain in weekly contact with the homeless community and maintain a waitlist, so that when a bed opens up, someone is ready to take it that day. Maceri said that the wait list is still there, although other shelters and programs run by LAHSA mean that there are more options for those waiting, so the list isnt as long.

In the year since El Puente started operations, The People Concern has adapted some of its approach. Maceri said that the goals are the same, but the nonprofit has increased its staff to provide for more mental health services and provide more activities for the shelters residents.

The shelter operates a number of activities and wellness programs alongside providing housing, to help the formerly homeless individuals recovery mentally and prepare for jobs and new homes. Maceri said those programs have been extremely beneficial to residents. Chris Espinosa, general manager for El Pueblo, said his department has been involved in helping with art workshops for residents and that those activities are also benefitting the wider El Pueblo area.

Cleanings and Security

One fear voiced by critics when A Bridge Home launched was that each site would attract more homeless individuals to the area. Although there is more support for El Puente now than when it launched, Espinosa said that many of the merchants are concerned about having the shelter at the El Pueblo parking lot, as they had to deal with the increase in the number of homeless encampments around El Pueblo in recent years before the facility opened.

Perkins said that the merchants fears have not come to pass. Thats largely due to the special enforcement zone set up around each facility. Within those zones, which launch 30 days after a bridge housing site opens, are sidewalk cleanings every weekday, including a comprehensive cleaning on Tuesdays. There are also specialized LAPD patrols that enforce a prohibition on sidewalk tents from 6 a.m.-9 p.m. Those patrols are also coupled with LAHSA outreach teams.

For El Puente, the enforcement zone area is bordered by Broadway, and Arcadia, Alameda and Spring streets. There are two storage spaces set up in Paseo Luis Olivares to the immediate west of El Pueblos main plaza where people can put their belongings during the day.

Homeless advocacy groups such as the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles have been critical of such rules, criticizing sweeps and the costs of those programs.

Espinosa said that in the last year there has been a noticeable increase in cleanliness around the area, which regularly draws in tourists. He also noted that the increased LAPD presence has calmed some concerns from merchants.

In a statement to Los Angeles Downtown News, City Councilman Jos Huizar, whos 14th District includes El Pueblo, said that El Puente is moderately successful based on the data his office has seen.

However, we havent been able to realize the full potential of the site because the area continues to be inundated daily with newly arriving people experiencing homeless, Huizars statement continued. This bridge housing shelter is working, but to truly combat the homeless issue in Los Angeles, we will need more facilities like this one implemented citywide to treat people in their own neighborhoods.

The push for more shelter space seems to be picking up momentum in Downtown. A 25-bed shelter specifically aimed for women opened at the Downtown Womens Center on Skid Row in August and the city is currently developing another site at 1426 S. Paloma St. The city is also considering converting the former Childrens Museum at 310 N. Main St. into a bridge housing site.

The El Puente site was set up to run for three years but the Mayors Office and The People Concern said they have no set plans for what happens after that period. With the first year at El Puente complete, they plan to continue with the current operations. Maceri noted that there are many more people around El Pueblo who still need support.

nslayton@timespublications.com

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One Year In, El Pueblo Shelter Sees Steady Progress - LA Downtown News Online