Minorities such as those of Latinos and African Americans are among the hardest hit by the lack of affordable housing
Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars invested to counter destitution, the number of homeless people in Los Angeles grew last year for the fifth time in the past six years, being lLatinos are the most numerous.
It is not an encouraging scenario in the face of the economic damage of COVID-19 and threatens to leave countless more on the street.
According to the figures revealed this Friday, 66,433 people are currently experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County, representing an increase of 12.7% compared to last year's count, in which 58,936 people were found living on the streets.
The survey conducted last January by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) found that Latinos represent 36.1% of the almost 66,500 people who do not have a safe roof.
The increase, which does not seem to stop, has been registered with greater intensity among Hispanics in the last three years.
In 2017, the Hispanic community made the first big increase when it was found that 35% (19,391) of the homeless in Los Angeles (57,794) were Latino, an increase of 63% compared to 2016.
By 2017, Latinos were the second group behind African-Americans. That year they constituted 40% of the total with some 21,921 people experiencing homelessness. In 2020, indigent African Americans ranked second with 33.7%.
African Americans, the hardest hit among the poor
Even though they are now behind Latinos, the African-American population continues to be the hardest hit by indigence if you compare the proportion of 33.7% with the total population, since this community only represents 7.9% of the county's inhabitants.
Latinos represent 48.5% of the county's population, the most populous in the United States.
The study highlights that "structural racism makes black people 4 times more likely to experience homelessness" in Los Angeles.
Heidi Marston, executive director of LAHSA, said in a statement that the numbers are disappointing and "the agency doesn't like them very much."
The city of Los Angeles, which is headed by the mayor Eric Garcetti, registered a greater increase than the entire county, registering 13.6% in indigence with 41,290 people on the street.
Homelessness in the city has become a major cause of Garcetti in recent years, even leading him to become embroiled in a controversy with the president. Donald trump, who directly criticized him.
In an interview last year, Trump hinted that homelessness in California was a problem that had arisen in the last two years and whose responsibility fell to "the liberal ruling class."
Coronavirus, an even greater risk
The figures revealed they do not reflect the efforts made by the authorities to help the homeless to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
LAHSA reported that as part of measures taken to protect the most vulnerable people from contagion, 6,010 people in the county were given rapid protection through the March Safer at Home initiative. However, the effort supported less than 10% of the few people living on the street.
Another 15,000 homeless are among the authorities' goals to help them find housing.
But the economic devastation caused by the pandemic shows a bleak picture of destitution.
"We have been almost three months without paying the rent, and as things are going to get us out because there is nothing to pay with, there is no job," said the Mexican Raúl Valencia, who has participated in several protests asking for total forgiveness of the rent. .
Tenant strikes
The call for "tenant strikes" has multiplied across the country to sue Congress for a suspension of rent payments arguing that the unemployment caused by the coronavirus does not allow them to meet these payments.
Elizabeth Blaney of the Los Angeles Union of Tenants explained that the current situation does not allow a deferment of rent payments for 12 months.
"They are not going to have what they are going to pay with and they will finally be thrown out into the streets," warned the union member, who pointed out that the problem is not just Los Angeles or California.
The rent forgiveness proposal has lost strength after the reopening of the economy nationwide.
For its part, the Greater Los Angeles Apartment Association (AAGLA), one of the largest organizations that brings together owners of rental buildings in Southern California, sued the city of Los Angeles on Thursday alleging that the ban on Evictions and rent increases related to COVID-19 violates the owners' constitutional rights, worsening the picture.
Added to this is the fact that Before the recession, large numbers of people were already homeless. According to LAHSA, before the pandemic an average of 207 people left homelessness every day in Los Angeles thanks to aid programs, while 227 people were left homeless.
The problem is not just impacting Los Angeles. The numbers of people living on the street in 2020 also increased in neighboring counties such as San Bernardino, Kern and Ventura.
San Diego was the only area that could reduce the number by 6%, going from 8,012 homeless in 2019 to 7,619 people living on the street in 2020.
By Ana Milena Varón
