One recent afternoon, two outreach workers strolled along Venice's Ocean Front Walk in search of homeless people most in danger of dying on the streets.
Lured in part by their promise of a $5 McDonald's gift card, Rachel Rochella Lowe, 53, stood by a beach bathroom for several minutes answering questions from Eddie Banda, the stocky, tattooed outreach coordinator for St. Joseph Center.
Had she ever been diagnosed with liver disease, diabetes or cancer? (Yes.) Had she ever abused drugs or alcohol? (Yes.) How often in the last three months had she visited the emergency room? (Maybe 15 times.)
A man named Robert, sitting on a blanket under a palm tree across from diners at the Sidewalk Cafe & Bar, said he had been homeless for less than a year after living at Atascadero State Hospital, which treats criminally mentally ill people.
Throughout Venice, scores of people with similar stories sprawl in alleyways, on blankets under palm trees and near the canals in cardboard boxes. Many are addled by mental illness, drugs or alcohol. Some have life-threatening ailments.
And St. Joseph Center, a Venice-based social service agency that has served poor and homeless individuals for more than 30 years, wants to find them before it's too late.
That is why dozens of volunteers and social workers fanned out for three nights earlier this month to survey the community's street denizens. With a grant from Los Angeles County, the agency plans to crunch the data and identify the 40 most vulnerable individuals. The next step will be to use Section 8 vouchers provided by the Los Angeles Housing Authority to house them and provide supportive services to help them overcome addictions and other physical and mental issues.
The Venice Chronic Homeless Intervention Project is based on a model developed in 2005 by Common Ground, a New York agency that substantially reduced homelessness in Times Square. It follows the successful rollout of similar programs in downtown Los Angeles' skid row and Santa Monica that have housed and treated more than 100 men and women.
In many cities, the "housing first" approach is replacing the previous practice of contacting "as many people as possible to let them know you're there," said Julie DeRose, who directs homeless programs at St. Joseph Center. Experts on homelessness are realizing that it is far easier to resolve addictions and other issues when people accustomed to the harsh life on the streets have a stable place to sleep and shower.
