Mayor Bass Brings 35+ Angelenos Off the Streets and Into Safe, Stable Housing During Boyle Heights Encampment Operation

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LOS ANGELES - This week, Mayor Karen Bass helped more than 35 unhoused Angelenos transition off the streets and into safe, stable housing through a successful Inside Safe operation in Boyle Heights. The Inside Safe team connected encampment residents to lifesaving medical care and social services while clearing tents and debris near the 6th Street Bridge and in Hollenbeck Park. Photos from the operation can be found here.

"When I came into office, I inherited one of the worst housing shortages in the country and a homelessness crisis that was spiraling out of control," said Mayor Karen Bass. "My predecessors left people on the streets and told them to wait-sometimes for years-for housing that did not yet exist. I refuse to let our streets be a waiting room, and under my leadership, we're getting people out of tents and into interim housing at a pace the city has never seen before. And for the first time ever, homelessness has fallen for two consecutive years."

"This operation is the result of a long-term commitment to community partnerships and compassionate outreach," said Councilmember Jurado. "Real progress comes from meeting people with care, earning trust, and connecting our unhoused neighbors to shelter, services, and a path toward recovery. Today's results show what that commitment can achieve: our teams helped ensure the areas surrounding the Sixth Street Bridge and Hollenbeck Park remain safe, clean, and accessible for everyone."

Inside Safe has become a cornerstone of Los Angeles' progress in addressing homelessness, helping drive two consecutive years of overall declines, including a nearly 18% reduction in street homelessness - a first for Los Angeles even as homelessness continues to rise in most major cities nationwide. Under Mayor Bass' leadership, the city has also reached a historic milestone, recording its first-ever decline in homeless deaths.

The Inside Safe program is built on a relationship-based approach that prioritizes trust, compassion, and voluntary transitions into housing. Outreach specialists work closely with unhoused Angelenos to connect them with interim housing, lifesaving medical care, and social services to help them get back on their feet. Across 129 operations, there has never been a need for LAPD to conduct an arrest. A series of Instagram video testimonials from Inside Safe team members offers a firsthand look at this life-changing work in action.

Click here to view the full post.

A recent study commissioned by the City Council Housing and Homelessness Committee found thatInsideSafe is the city's second most cost-effective interim housing program, findings that were highlighted during a recent NBC4 interview with Mayor Bass at an Inside Safe operation in Koreatown.

Beyond moving people off the streets, Mayor Bass is also focused on preventing individuals and families from becoming unhoused in the first place. Here's how her administration is tackling every stage in the fight to end homelessness and build more housing:

• Cutting red tape to speed up construction of affordable housing, with more than 42,000 units currently in the pipeline.

• Signing into law the first update to Los Angeles' Rent Stabilization Ordinance in 40 years.

• Implementing a research-proven eviction and homelessness prevention program through the Mayor's Fund.

• Advancing the Citywide Housing Incentive Program to expand housing opportunities along major corridors, near transit, and in neighborhoods where people already live and work, with nearly 29,000 units proposed.

• Expanding the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance citywide to convert vacant offices and parking lots into housing, with estimates of more than 43,000 potential new homes.

• Promoting innovative housing through LA4LA and increasing opportunities for affordable housing on City-owned land.

For more information on the Inside Safe program, visit https://mayor.lacity.gov/InsideSafe.