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# Plan to end homelessness heads into final stretch
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/plan-to-end-homelessness-heads-into-final-stretch/
- Published: 2004-09-04T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T05:00:54.000Z
- Author: Carolyn Sackariason
- Tags: Community, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless, Homelessness

*San Francisco unveiled homeless plan in July*

Within the decade, homeless people will be eradicated from the streets and parks of Santa Monica — that is, if everything goes according to plan.

That plan, which will be unveiled on Sept. 23, has taken several months to develop and taken into consideration the input and opinions of hundreds of people.

Dubbed “Bring LA Home,” a panel convened last year to devise a plan to end homelessness in Los Angeles County within the next 10 years. The plan is similar to that of dozens of other cities taking on the daunting task, which was spurred by the Bush Administration’s goal to rid the nation of its homeless population.

The panel of about 80 people — consisting of everybody from politicians to business leaders to homeless advocates — hopes to end the problem that has plagued this city for decades. It’s considered the largest effort ever by community leaders to tackle a problem that some say stands as the biggest facing the country.

There are as many homeless people in Los Angeles County as there are residents in all of Santa Monica, according to an analysis of the county’s homeless population. Of the 80,000 people who live on the streets at any given time during the year, 2 percent of them live in Santa Monica. With just a modest 2 percent of the county’s homeless population, homelessness has still had a huge impact on the community, residents say. With the exception of Venice, there aren’t many Westside cities that share the burden of taking care of the homeless. That’s one of the reasons Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom is involved with “Bring LA Home” — to solve the problem with a regional approach and mandate that other communities help.

About 20 community meetings were held earlier this year throughout LA County to get residents’ input on the process and give suggestions on how to end homelessness.

The final plan was supposed to be done in July, but delayed for various reasons.

“It was delayed and I was disappointed with that,” Bloom said. “But this plan addresses the regional issues and is the first substantive plan.”

Santa Monica currently spends about $2 million each year on services for homeless people. The city of Los Angeles spends more than $14 million, most of which comes from the federal government, said Robin Conerly, deputy director of the LA Homeless Services Authority.

LA County also spends tens of millions of dollars on homeless services and special needs programs, such as mental health and social services, she added.

San Francisco city officials unveiled a $350 million, 10-year plan in July that aims to end the city’s chronic homeless crisis. The “Changing Direction” plan focuses on improving the lives of the estimated 3,000 chronically homeless people in San Francisco, including those who struggle with combinations of mental illness, alcoholism and drug abuse. Once those people are helped, officials believe space will be made available and other transients will be pulled into housing and rehabilitation services.

That city’s homeless population is estimated at 15,000\. According to city officials, San Francisco has the highest per capita number of homeless in the United States.

The plan focuses on replacing emergency shelters with at least 3,000 units of supportive housing. Those units will provide counselors and services to help residents get over their problems and stay off the streets. Beds will be reduced only when housing and services are available to replace them.

Bloom said the plan for LA County is more complicated than San Francisco because it encompasses dozens of cities.

“LA is more complex than other areas,” he said. “There are 81 cities. Coordinating the plan with the region was complicated.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 4, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/090404.pdf?ref=smdp.com)