Staff Reporter
PACOIMA, Calif. — On a hot weekday afternoon in the San Fernando Valley, Saundra Macpherson bent over a garden hose on Branford Street, rinsing dust from bedding and pillows spread across the sidewalk outside her camper. Inside, her younger sister — a disabled Navy veteran with an honorable discharge — lay resting with five Wheaten Terriers, all of them seeking relief from the midday heat.
Macpherson, 53, has an associate degree in business administration and once worked steadily in in-home care. But when a longtime client died, her income dried up, and she has been homeless in Los Angeles for three years.
“We’re out of hope here,” she said, pausing between rinses. “I don’t like living like this, but I’ve gotten so far down, I can’t get up by myself.”
She is one of thousands of Los Angeles homeless residents who now face deeper uncertainty as Los Angeles homelessness funding cuts begin to ripple through the system that has kept them afloat.
Story Highlights
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Six major providers warn of budget shortfalls threatening homeless services in Los Angeles.
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Rental subsidies, outreach teams, and rapid rehousing programs already shrinking.
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City explores shifting funds away from LAHSA to the county’s Department of Homelessness.
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Leaders fear reversal of progress after two years of declining street homelessness.
Providers Sound the Alarm
On Sept. 11, six of Los Angeles County’s largest homeless service providers released a joint report warning of deep reductions at the local, state, and federal levels. The group includes PATH, LA Family Housing, The People Concern, Union Station Homeless Services, Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System, and St. Joseph’s Center.
Their message was blunt: rental subsidies are drying up, outreach teams are shrinking, and shelters are at capacity. Without continued support, thousands of people could lose access to basic services — even as the city celebrates its second straight year of declining street homelessness.
“I feel very confident saying that we’re going to see an increase in homelessness in the coming years,” said Katie Hill, CEO of Union Station Homeless Services, the San Gabriel Valley’s largest provider.
She warned that the most severe consequences may begin early next year, when key funding sources are expected to expire. For now, existing programs are still keeping many people housed. But by January, she said, those without stable plans or backup options may fall through the cracks — and the full impact may not be visible until the next wave of evictions.
Budgets Falling, Programs Freezing
Union Station Homeless Services has already cut its budget from $45 million last year to $38 million this year. Next year, Hill said, it could fall below $30 million. “I just told my team today, we’re on a hiring freeze because I don’t want us to be in the position of bringing anybody else on while these programs are moving,” she added.
Other agencies are experiencing similar pressures. PATH — one of the largest homeless services providers in California — lost about 25% of its Los Angeles funding last year and expects more reductions.
“Because of the funding cuts we’re unable to serve really any new participants,” said PATH CEO Jennifer Hark Dietz. “We’re not able to provide families with that conduit from interim housing resource to permanent housing resource. So we’re turning people away.”
John Maceri, CEO of The People Concern, said the entire system is beginning to seize up.
“We are at risk of losing momentum,” Maceri said. “Homelessness is something that responds well to strategic, smart investments over time. The reductions in street homelessness we’ve seen year over year are the direct result of the investments that have been made into bringing people indoors and keeping them indoors. Now we’re venturing down a path which is going to undo that good work.”
Lives in Limbo
For residents like Macpherson, the path already feels narrower. She said programs like Hope the Mission gave her access to showers, hygiene supplies, clean clothes, and even a storage bin — basic support that helped her survive.
“They sign you up,” she said. “They said it takes about a year or two for you to get somewhere to stay or whatever. I just wish that it didn’t take so long to get housed because we’re out of hope here.”
Yannick Angomasi, 40, who had been staying at a tiny home village for three months, said he was removed after a verbal altercation with another resident and has been trying to return ever since. Without a cell phone to track follow-ups, he said, navigating the system has become even harder.
Keith Ulrich, 68, has been homeless since 2017. He hopes to one day move back to his family’s 80-acre ranch in Montana but remains in Los Angeles to care for his girlfriend, who needs double hip replacement surgery. Ulrich receives $1,500 a month in Social Security and says he is able to get by — for now.
“Everywhere you look, there’s people out there that need it way more than I do,” he said. “I’m a survivor. I don’t let nothing get me down.”
City Leaders Weigh New Approach
While service providers brace for Los Angeles homelessness funding cuts, city leaders say they remain committed to sustaining progress.
Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson agreed with the report’s assessment that the city has made recent progress in reducing homelessness and said the council remains dedicated to building on those gains.
“I agree with the report outlining the momentum our city has had in reducing homelessness; much can be attributed to Measure HHH housing coming online and Inside Safe,” he said in a statement. “The city is still dedicated to investing in housing our neighbors.”
He said the council’s recent vote to explore shifting funding away from LAHSA is part of a broader effort to evaluate what’s possible and prudent “to continue to fund our efforts to end homelessness with the possibility of creating working systems that can meet the magnitude of the issue.”
Fear on the Front Lines
On the ground, however, outreach leaders see a different reality.
“There’s so much fear in the unhoused community right now,” said Rowan Vansleve, president of Hope the Mission, one of the San Fernando Valley’s largest shelter and outreach providers.
“Those on the street waiting to get shelter, they’re going to lose hope and you’ll see an increase in mental health and addiction,” he added. “And those who are already in shelter, as they see that transition to permanent housing not happening, they’re going to lose hope. So on both fronts, it’s very heartbreaking.”
As Los Angeles balances budgets, agencies and residents alike wait to see whether the hard-won gains in reducing homelessness can survive the latest round of cuts — or whether the city’s fragile progress will unravel.
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