New LA mayor declares state of emergency amid homelessness crisis
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New LA Mayor Karen Bass says Los Angeles will build more shelters for the residents who have been forced to live on the streets.
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A homeless woman picks up a pair of jeans from trash scattered along the street in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022 (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
New Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared on Monday a state of emergency in the city amid an acute crisis of homelessness among residents.
"Today, on my first day of office, we hit the ground running with a sea change in how the city tackles homelessness, declaring a state of emergency and activating the Emergency Operations Center," Bass said during a press briefing.
Bass said she will not accept the "homelessness crisis" prevailing in the city as it presently affects more than 40,000 residents.
Los Angeles is going through a crisis that is claiming the lives of at least five homeless residents per day, she explained.
Read: US inflation surging, retired becoming homeless
Homeless people's mass displacement and death rate in Los Angeles have already surpassed those caused by disasters like the Northridge earthquake and hurricane Harvey, the mayor said.
Los Angeles will respond to this humanitarian crisis by constructing more shelters for the residents who have been forced to live on the streets, Bass added.
"The executive order that I will sign in the coming days to create the Inside Safe program will create a city-wide approach to tackling encampments and street homelessness to provide people with housing and services, and to restore our public spaces," she said.
It is worth noting that many senior citizens in America are on the verge of bankruptcy due to inflation and increased rent. According to Ramsey Alwin, president and CEO of the National Council on Aging, the poverty rate for those 65 and over increased from 8.9% in 2020 to reach 10.3% in 2021.
Mortgage rates in the United States reached a 12-year high last week, while home prices established a new high in March, according to industry group data released in April.
According to Alwin, those who rely on traditional income in retirement, such as Social Security, have problems paying for essentials. People frequently fall short of their necessities, he said, by roughly $1,000 each month.
As a result, a lot of elderly individuals are forced to choose between paying for basic expenses like food and medicine and their rent. While others are forced to leave their houses because they can't afford to stay there.
