One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
Year-round emergency climate shelters could be coming to LA County
Downtown Los Angeles in early September as Southern California coped with a heat wave.
(
Etienne Laurent
/
AFP via Getty Images
)
Topline:
Unhoused residents in L.A. County could soon have access to year-round emergency climate shelters.
Why now: The L.A. County Board of Supervisors approved a motion earlier this week to expand and transform the seasonal shelters to protect people from extreme weather conditions, like wildfires and heat waves, 24/7.
Why it matters: “The vision behind these climate shelters is straightforward — provide our most vulnerable populations a safe place to find relief from the increasingly harsh weather conditions our county is facing,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who introduced the motion.
The backstory: L.A. County currently offers cooling centers during extreme heat waves and temporary emergency shelters during the winter.
What's next: County officials have been directed to report back in 90 days to find funding for at least one emergency shelter in each of the eight Service Planning Areas. They’ve also been asked to identify sites or spaces, such as unused parking lots, that could house an emergency shelter on public or private land.
Read more … to learn more about how some unhoused people deal with extreme heat.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
