Skid Row Shelter Emergency Funds Voted by County

Responding to an emergency appeal for funds, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday allocated $44,000 for the new city-run temporary homeless shelter on Skid Row.

Martha Brown Hicks, director of Skid Row Development Corp., the nonprofit city agency that opened the 138-bed shelter Tuesday, told the supervisors the shelter, built with volunteer union labor, is facing severe cash flow problems and has funds available only for about two weeks of operation.

“We desperately need your help,” Hicks told the supervisors.

Board Chairman Ed Edelman, whose district includes Skid Row, and Supervisor Kenneth Hahn offered $22,000 each from community service funds available to their districts. Supervisor Deane Dana, who earlier had been critical of the hastily erected plywood dormitory, provided the necessary third vote. Supervisors Pete Schabarum and Michael Antonovich were absent.

Hicks said the funds should be enough to keep the shelter operating an additional five weeks. Edelman said he hopes the county will provide other emergency housing assistance after that.

In a two-hour discussion of the homeless that lacked the divisiveness of some recent debates of the issue, board members also adopted a motion commending Los Angeles County Labor Federation chief William Robertson for his leadership in building the new Skid Row shelter. They also ordered a re-evaluation of a controversial policy that cuts indigents off from emergency housing assistance for 60 days if they fail to meet a variety of requirements, such as looking for work.

Critics of the policy claim many of the reasons why people are cut off from assistance--such as mistakes in paper work--are technical, yet are responsible for putting thousands of people on the streets each month.

The board also rejected a county grand jury recommendation that the county be declared a disaster area because of the homeless problem to generate federal and state aid. County administrators reported such a declaration would not qualify for emergency aid.