Los Angeles Democrat mayor says entire hotels to be leased to homeless
Los Angeles mayor said there is a greater sense of "urgency" in the city since she was elected
MSNBC
The Mayor of Los Angeles has said she plans to lease entire hotels to solve the homeless crisis.
Democrat Karen Bass said that communities had been set up within the encampment.
She said: "What we're doing is that we are leasing motel rooms.
"It's an expensive model so we are getting ready to master lease which means we lease the entire motel.
Democrat Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass
MSNBC
"And we go to the encampments, which are a series of tents.
"What I think the general public might not realise is that to survive on the street people create communities.
"So instead of splitting them up, we move the entire community inside.
"A community based organisation takes over and provides the services."
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced the scheme
MSNBC
Bass was first elected to the role of mayor of Los Angeles 11 months ago.
Speaking on MSNBC, she said: "I do believe there is a new sense of urgency in the city.
"We launched Inside Safe right after I took over and that was a campaign continuing to get people out of tents and into housing.
"I think everyone assumed there would be resistance because there was this myth that people wanted to stay on the seats. I can tell you people did not have a problem at all."
One of the people who took place in the scheme spoke about how much safer they felt now they were off the street.
They said: "I walked in and that was the first time I felt safety and peace and a sense of 'this is the beginning of the rest of my life.
"This is finally the catapult I've been waiting for, believing in, been dreaming of.
"It's all because of this project."
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