Homeless surge in the San Gabriel Valley

Covina is quiet, pleasant, and a small city that many of us call home. Covina's location is convenient with the beach and Disneyland only forty miles away. But closer than that, is the city of Los Angeles, the biggest city in California, just twelve miles away from our own hometown of Covina. Los Angeles is the second most populated city in the country with over four million people living in and around the city (as of 2017). The city may be famous for Hollywood and it's various sports teams, but the City of Angels has become infamous for another reason: a homeless epidemic.

The United States has half a million people classified as homeless with California being the capital of homelessness in the United States.

Los Angeles county alone has up to 60,000 homeless people as of 2019.

So why is Los Angeles such a hot spot for the homeless population? The large population and urban environment are a big part of it. Also, the lack of enforcement of the law against setting up tents in public areas does not help in places like Skid Row. The city has done little to combat the problem with some saying the city has given up on the situation by making it legal to set up tents.

So what? You might ask. How does this affect me? I live in Covina. Twelve miles away.

Well, in recent years, Los Angeles been forcing the homeless to leave the streets they call home. This has caused a massive spike in the homeless population in famous areas such as Venice Beach, Hollywood Blvd, and our very own San Gabriel Valley. With my own eyes I’ve seen area by the areas in Covina turn into sleeping grounds for people who are homeless.

City officials have counted that the homeless population has gone up by 86% with 180 people being classified as homeless as of June of this year with around 32% of them living on the streets with no shelter because of the strong migration of the homeless into Covina. "'We have roughly 150 people coming to us each month,' Brogden said. There were 'maybe about 20 when I first started,' he added."

According to the Los Angeles Almanac the large majority of the homeless population in the San Gabriel Valley are made up of those who are victims of domestic abuse, the mentally ill, and the chronically homeless. The problem is that people forget that these people matter and are just in a horrible situation. While it's up to our government's to ultimately solve this problem, you can help too.

We encourage you to donate or volunteer. For information on how, visit the City of Covina Website.