State to give San Gabriel Valley $5.625 million for homeless initiatives
California is set to give the San Gabriel Valley $5.625 million to help address homelessness in the region.
State Sen. Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, began lobbying for the funding immediately after she was elected last November because she had seen homelessness increase in the area while serving on the Baldwin Park City Council. Gov. Gavin Newsom included the funding in the $214.8 billion state budget he signed last week.
Baldwin Park’s homeless population doubled between 2017 and 2018, according to data from the 2018 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count. In that time, homelessness increased across the region by about 3%.
However, between 2018 and 2019, homelessness in the San Gabriel Valley increased a whopping 24%, according to data released in June from the 2019 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, which illustrates the dire need for the funding, Rubio said.
“For me, the biggest eye-opener is that increase is twice the rate of growth of Los Angeles County as a whole,” Rubio said. “Clearly I needed to advocate to ensure this funding went to my district.”