HOTEL HOMELESS

Coronavirus: City Opens Downtown Hotel To Temporarily House Homeless As Part Of Project Roomkey

LAPPL News Watch
May 12, 2020

A downtown Los Angeles hotel, shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic, has opened once more — this time as an 11-floor, 460-room temporary homeless shelter.

It’s the biggest and most ambitious move yet to get people experiencing homelessness off the streets by putting a major hotel just blocks from Skid Row to use housing the city’s most vulnerable.

The Salvation Army, which will supervise mental health and addiction services at the hotel, released a video showcasing the accommodations. “It gives them an opportunity to be in a comfortable place, off the streets, out of the elements,” Major Osei Stewart, incident commander, said. “It gives them food to eat, three meals a day.”

The program will last for 90 days and provide case management to those being housed, but the question remains of what happens once the program ends.