Athens Way in Rosewood has been the worst of the worst. In 2019, I stumbled upon this area by accident. Not understanding who it belonged to or how to report it. A dirt roadway stretching 3 city blocks with overlapping jurisdictions not working in tandem. I referred to this area as the "Black Hole". Rampant criminal activity, stolen vehicles, illegal dumping, and plethora of other issues impacted the area.
Day 2 of the clean up. There are days when I have no words to describe what I witnessed. We were fortunate to have created partnerships with an organization in Watts that worked diligently to ensure folks had options. Along with the HOST team, we were able to get folks into beds at SafeLanding. Those individuals living in passenger vehicles were provided services at a SafeParking location in Watts and/or Torrance.
Day 3 I found beds available for individuals that declined the help on the first two days. I drove two individuals to a local shelter as beds opened up. Those individuals that did not accept help but remained on a nearby street were visited in the morning and provided options. I have organized a type of "homeless triage" by using a local property that is currently vacant. Working with the owner, we began moving them to this location so that service providers could visit them as beds opened up or housing became available. I am grateful to the property owner for allowing this option.
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