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A program spearheaded by L.A. City Councilman Mike Bonin to offer services and housing for people living along the Venice Beach Boardwalk started on Monday.
For the next six weeks, outreach workers from St. Joseph Center will offer permanent housing for as many as 200 people living on the boardwalk.
"In this case, St. Joseph's Center has permanent housing lined up. They've got permanent housing vouchers. And while those get processed and people get put into the right places, we are offering people immediately the opportunity to get off the streets safely into temporary and interim housing," said Bonin in an interview with our newsroom's news affairs show AirTalk.
His initiative is meant to be an alternative approach to the one that's being taken by L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who has sent deputies and his own outreach teams to the encampments.
Villanueva says people living there have until July 4 to either accept services or leave the area — otherwise they could face arrest.
