LA Political Leaders Spend Night In New Tarzana Homeless Community
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – A group of Los Angeles politicians spent Monday night in a new tiny home village that is slated to open in Tarzana next week.
L.A. City Councilmen Bob Blumenfield and Kevin DeLeon, along with California state Sen. Henry Stern, spent the night in the Tarzana Cabin Community at the Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission on West Topham Street.
"These tiny cabins are a hell of a lot better the sleeping on concrete, cement and asphalt," DeLeon said Tuesday.
The new tiny home village will open July 5. Each home will be 64-square-feet in size with two beds and air conditioning.
The community will have 76 tiny homes, 10 bathrooms and 10 showers. It will be capable of housing up to 150 people.
"To get folks directly off the streets, into a better environment, an environment that has a roof, that has a locking door, that has air conditioning, heat, power, and most importantly its got services, and a service provider that will work with them," Blumenfield told CBSLA Monday.
The Tarzana facility is the seventh cabin community in L.A. With five more in planning or under construction, in total, the city hopes to have 1,300 tiny home beds available by the end of the year. On Tuesday, another project broke ground in Highland Park which will have 117 tiny homes.
"At minimum, at least we can do that, give them a locked door give them a sense of dignity," DeLeon said.
It takes about three months to complete a tiny home village, so the one in Highland Park is expected to open in September.
The communities have proven controversial, however. In April, Blumenfield held a public meeting about a Reseda tiny home project that drew a large group of upset neighbors.
Meanwhile, in Venice on Monday, an initiative spearheaded by Councilman Mike Bonin got underway in which homeless residents living on along the Venice Boardwalk are being offered a pathway to permanent housing.
The goal is to get the nearly 200 people who live on the boardwalk housed in converted motels and shelters within the next six weeks.
