Open Source Homelessness Initiative - OSHI

Leon Washington has been painting for over 30 years. His creative prowess blossomed while he was in art therapy for acute depression, schizophrenia, and paranoia. Due to death and displacement, Leon is currently homeless.

Learn more about Leon and his art at these links:
Purchase his art at http://artbyleon.com
Venmo: @/artbyleon
GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/leons-home

L.A. County faces a shortfall of 500,000 homes, according to the California Housing Partnership. And although efforts to house people experiencing homeless have expanded, the number of Angelenos who have lost their homes in the same timeframe has outpaced these efforts.

Even many Angelenos who have received Section 8 vouchers cannot find available units or interested landlords— a staggering 50%. The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board explains the problem simply: “There are not enough low-cost housing options for people struggling on the margins.”

State Senator Sydney Kamlager’s Senate Bill 679 responds to this problem by inaugurating a new county agency, the L.A. County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency (LACAHSA), whose mission would be to create & maintain affordable housing and protect renters.

Concurrently, a 2022 ballot measure is being drafted that would tax multimillion-dollar property sales in L.A. County potentially generating over $500 million a year. Proponents of the bill posit that with this money LACAHSA could build and maintain 100,000 low-cost units.

Supporters also suggest that since the govt. agency would not be subject to the same “labyrinthine public financing process” as developers, their housing may be more economical, welcome news as construction costs for low-cost housing in L.A. run upwards of $500,000 a unit.

Read the article by clicking the link below.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-06-20/sb967-affordable-housing-agency