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# Making progress with the homeless
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/making-progress-with-the-homeless/
- Published: 2008-04-23T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T19:20:58.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Community, Downtown, #archive-import, Homeless

*Helping homeless a difficult task*

DOWNTOWN Of the 10 most vulnerable people living on the streets of Santa Monica, one has been permanently housed, three are in shelters, four remain on the streets and two have left the city.

The most vulnerable person, a 49-year-old white man with chronic health problems who grew up in foster care in Texas and came to Santa Monica 30 years ago, “came into some money and left town,” said Stacy Rowe, human services administrator at City Hall.

“We don’t know where he’s at and that happens from time to time,” Rowe said. “He may resurface later on and he would still be high on the priority list.”

City Hall in January conducted a survey of more than 100 homeless people in Santa Monica to identify those who are in dire need of assistance, including those who suffer from mental illness or other ailments that if left untreated could lead to death in the next few years. The idea is to move the top 10 most vulnerable homeless into housing as soon as possible, and then move on to the next 10.

The city and county of Los Angeles are doing something similar, focusing on 50 homeless people deemed most likely to die on the streets of Downtown’s Skid Row. Officials there announced last week that 23 of the 50 most vulnerable have been moved off the sidewalks and into apartments, and expressed optimism that 27 others would soon be receiving aid from social service providers.

Common Ground, a New York City-based agency, is managing the Los Angeles effort and assisted Santa Monica officials in conducting the survey and creating a vulnerability index to better focus resources locally.

Rowe said that while the focus has been on the first 10, staff and social service providers have continued to work with the other 100 people identified in the survey. Of those four of them are permanently housed, two are in temporary shelters and one in jail.

“The hardest part has been getting people to make the transition and, frankly, finding housing units to rent,” Rowe said. “We have the funding to pay pretty much market rate for everybody, but it is difficult in this housing market to find available units for folks. That is our biggest challenge, aside from the fact that we are dealing with a population that is complex, with a lot of issues to work out.”

Officials said the project is intended to help more than just those initially identified. It is seen as a way to encourage other homeless people in the area to get help. That, proponents say, will save millions of dollars in taxpayer money that would otherwise go to hospitalization and emergency treatment.

The challenges so far have included gaining the trust of the homeless people they identified, getting them documentation such as identification cards, and signing them up for services.

That’s because 91 one of the 110 people identified in the survey as being vulnerable are suffering from some mental illness and are abusing alcohol or drugs, Rowe said. Most are eligible for public assistance, such as Social Security Insurance, but only 37 are taking advantage of it.

Further numbers crunching reveled that of the 110, 33 are veterans who could be receiving treatment and counseling at the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration campus. City officials and service providers met with VA officials last Friday to discuss ways to better coordinate their efforts.

One issue that was discussed was changing the requirements to receive services. Rowe said a major barrier for some veterans is the abstinence requirement. Those who wish to access services from the VA must be alcohol and drug free.

Representatives from the VA could not be reached for comment.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 23, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/042308.pdf?ref=smdp.com)