Written by Ally Tokioka
April 18, 2023
Recent fluctuations in temperature and the unexpected cold have put many unsheltered individuals in jeopardy. Left sitting in what the Los Angeles Times refers to as one of Los Angeles’ “largest cold snap[s] in almost 20 years” (Toohey, 2023), the homeless of California are fighting to survive on the streets.
Outreach organizations and crews have been working together to find a solution, working to find homeless individuals temporary housing, ultimately getting people out of the cold, and off the streets. The frigid winter storms continue to creep in, as Southern California has experienced an unprecedented amount of rain, strong winds, and moments of hail in recent weeks. ABC news states that “the Los Angeles Homeless Authority is offering six winter shelters this season across LA County [with] a total of 270 beds” (Resendiz, 2023). Recent counts conducted on the homeless population show that there are “nearly 70,000 homeless… in LA County, and nearly 42,000 in the city” (Resendiz, 2023). With approximately 7 in every 10 individuals being unsheltered, and only so many locations and shelters for people to turn to, it leaves officials searching for a solution while the homeless face the question of what to do next to keep themselves fed, while attaining the tools and materials needed to fend off the cold. Many are left pondering the choice of food or frostbite.
Unfortunately, these circumstances are not unfamiliar, as homeless advocates state that this is “yet another instance of a familiar story they see every time temperatures drop. The process of obtaining a hotel voucher can be complicated and more similar to the process of getting interim housing, made more difficult without basic necessities like a phone” (Holshouser, 2023). Officials are faced with countless obstacles in trying to better the living conditions of homeless individuals during the cold months of winter. Interim housing and hotel vouchers are temporary solutions, but as Andrew Good, an organization volunteer states, they are only mere “band-aid[s]” to a much larger issue in need of a more permanent solution (Holshouser, 2023).
Battling against mother nature’s unprecedented storms and weather fluctuations is no easy task, and with officials and volunteer crews working to find a solution, it is important that we, as a community, pitch in to help where we can. Whether it means donating warm socks and raingear to the homeless shelter, organizing a hygiene kit distribution event, as BAM will be doing in the coming weeks, or simply handing out hand warmers, warm water, or a hot meal, we can all pitch in to make an impact. As Mayor Karen Bass states “extreme weather that means inconvenience for some, can be a matter of life or death for the unhoused” (Resendiz, 2023), but no one should have to choose between food or frostbite.
Work Cited
Holshouser, E. (2023, February 14). Southern California homeless shelters struggle to bring people in from cold temperatures. Daily News. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from
https://www.dailynews.com/2023/02/13/southern-california-homeless-shelters-struggle-to-bring-people-in-from-cold-temperatures/
Resendiz, E. (2023, February 23). Crews try to help SoCal homeless find shelter as cold winter storm approaches. ABC7 Los Angeles. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from https://abc7.com/homelessness-cold-storm-winter-snow/12862516/
Toohey, G. (2023, February 28). Winter storms likely to bring Los Angeles its longest cold snap in almost 20 years. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-28/southern-california-winter-storm-los-angeles-long-cold-streak