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Understanding Homelessness in West LA
Explore the causes and challenges of homelessness in West LA, with valuable resources to deepen your understanding.
Learn how you can make a meaningful impact in addressing an issue that affects us all.
Housed or Matched With Housing in Our First Year
Growth In Mobile Shower Attendance
Fewer Homeless in Our Service Area
Frequently Asked Questions
If you can’t find a question answered here, please contact us by clicking the button below.
WLAH is a private nonprofit founded in 2020 by an independent group of community volunteers committed to compassionately addressing issues associated with homelessness in West Los Angeles. Our mission is to provide individuals experiencing homelessness with resources and services that lead to permanent housing, and to provide leadership on systemic solutions to issues of homelessness in our community. We all know the current system is broken. WLAH was founded to do something about it.
We conduct direct outreach to the unhoused in our community, providing services such as assistance in obtaining ID, connecting individuals to case managers and facilitating case progress, providing employment-related services and resources, assistance with transportation, and connecting individuals to medical providers. We respond to community requests for individual outreach.
On a weekly basis, WLAH staffs mobile showers where we provide hard-to-obtain items such as new t-shirts, new socks, and new underwear; over-the-counter medications and first aid products; and survival gear, including blankets and warm clothing. The items we distribute are intended to help people start tackling the barriers to exiting homelessness.
We also collaborate with local businesses, faith-based organizations, other service providers, and government representatives to develop sustainable solutions to this complex humanitarian crisis. Our Board is comprised solely of private-sector professionals who seek to bring private sector innovation and accountability to the way homelessness is addressed in Los Angeles.
WLAH is run solely by volunteers. We have almost no overhead, and our donations go directly to those in need.
WLAH’s Directors and Officers are all private-sector professionals. We have no stake in the current system. We harness the parts that work, and we work around those that don’t.
WLAH is privately funded, with all donations coming from community members and organizations. This allows us to maintain our independence and our ability to pivot as needed.
WLAH combines direct outreach with the ability to advance systemic solutions through our connections to those with the power to change the status quo.
The numbers don’t lie. According to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, a single adult in Los Angeles must earn at least $26.63 per hour in a full-time job (i.e., $55,390 annually) to cover basic needs. A full-time worker earning minimum wage in Los Angeles earns between $17.81 and $20 per hour (i.e., only about $37,000 to $41,600 annually). That’s 25% to 33% below what’s needed to cover basic needs.
The average rent for a studio apartment in Los Angeles is $2,180 per month. That’s 70% of the wages earned by a full-time, minimum wage employee.
Only 6% of units in Los Angeles rent for $1,500 per month or below. From 2011 to 2019, LA lost 8 times the number of affordable housing units than were built.
We would love your help in supporting systematic and ground-level changes for the unhoused.
As a charitable non-profit, you can visit this link to contribute: Donate
We couldn't do it without our supporters.
For more information on donations, all contributions go directly towards supplies and resources that help the unhoused secure housing and essential services. As a nonprofit organization, we ensure that every dollar is dedicated to making a difference. Upon donating, you'll receive the necessary tax information for your records.
To learn more or make a donation, please visit our Donations Page.
The best way to contact us is by emailing us at info@wlah.info or by filling out the form below.
We look forward to hearing from you!
