4 Big-City Mayors Ask Congress for $115 Million to Combat Homelessness

The mayors of four big U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, asked Congress on Thursday for $115 million for next year to combat homelessness, which they said is at crisis proportions.

The mayors are seeking to create permanent housing for the chronically homeless and those with disabilities. They also want to provide them supportive services such as mental health and substance abuse treatment.

“The intent is to fund results-oriented initiatives to create visible and measurable change on our streets and in the lives of homeless people,” said a statement, signed by the mayors of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“In San Francisco, by every objective analysis, homelessness remains the No. 1 issue,” said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in a telephone news conference. “Last year, we estimate the city lost 169 people who died on the streets. There is no greater urban issue that we face.”

San Francisco officials estimate that about 8,000 people are on their city streets on any given night and that 3,000 to 5,000 of them are chronically homeless.

Mayor James K. Hahn said that as many as 84,000 people are homeless on any given night in Los Angeles County and that a quarter-million will be without lodging at some point during the year. Both Los Angeles and San Francisco are developing 10-year plans to end chronic homelessness, with Los Angeles scheduled to unveil its blueprint this summer.

The mayors are endorsing a $70-million Bush administration proposal called the Samaritan Initiative, which would provide competitive grants for community-based programs aimed at moving people from the streets and out of shelters into permanent housing.

Homeless advocates, however, contend that the initiative is underfunded, especially for supportive services. The mayors want an additional $45 million to be included in the initiative for such services, bringing the total to $115 million.

Speaking during the telephone conference, Philip Mangano, executive director of the federal Interagency Council on Homelessness, said that while the grants would be competitive, Los Angeles and San Francisco were likely to rank high in priority for funding.

Others participating in the telephone conference included former San Francisco Supervisor Angela Alioto, who is in charge of developing that city’s homeless plan; Bob Erlenbusch, director of the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness; and Mitchell Netburn, director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Erlenbusch and Netburn are coordinating the Los Angeles plan.

Yusef K. Robb, a spokesman for Hahn, said that while the mayors had not received a formal response from congressional leaders, they expect considerable support for the funding.

According to the federal Interagency Council, long-term homeless people represent 10% of the homeless population, but consume 50% of homeless shelter resources, as well as expensive hospital and correctional services.

Advocates for the homeless who participated in the telephone conference said they were hard-pressed to meet demand.

“We’re on the front lines every day, and at the end of the day, we have to close our doors and turn them away,” said Joel John Roberts, director of a nonprofit Los Angeles agency called PATH, or People Assisting the Homeless. “In Los Angeles, there are not enough emergency beds, not enough transitional housing.”