Meeting Offers Medical, Housing Info for Homeless

Free transportation and lunch will be provided for the homeless who attend a Thursday informational meeting designed to hook them up with medical care, housing services and other benefits.

The meeting targets the growing homeless population in the Sunland and Tujunga areas, including the foothills in La Tuna, Little Tujunga and Big Tujunga canyons.

Residents have recently complained to Councilman Joel Wachs about the homeless encampments, and his office is investigating alternatives.

Organizers said the meeting was conceived to help relocate the homeless before a targeted July 1 fire hazard deadline to close down the encampments.

The 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. “Connections Day” will be at Finn Park, 7747 Foothill Blvd., Tujunga. It will include medical screenings, information about housing and other resources, mental health and substance abuse assessments and a free meal. Free transportation to and from the meeting will be offered to the homeless by social service agencies that will make stops at different locations in the designated areas.

Last week, a Sunland encampment on private property was closed by the landowner, displacing many street people into the community--a situation that city and service agency officials said they want to avoid in July.

Some homeless people recently said they were reluctant to take up the offer of a free ride and meal because they feared they would be bused out of the area.

But Pat Davenport, a deputy to Wachs, said the meeting was “absolutely not about being bused out of town.”

Instead, it’s a coordinated attempt to link the homeless with agencies that can assist them.

The meeting is sponsored by Wachs’ office, the L.A. Family Housing Corp.-Pacoima Access Center, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health Connections Program and the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission.

More information is available from John Horn, L.A. Family Housing Corp., at (818) 890-4034.