LOS ANGELES — Dawn Taki is among the tens of thousands of people who live on the streets of Los Angeles.
But her encampment under the 405 Freeway, where she had been staying for two years, was recently cleared in advance of Sunday’s Super Bowl at nearby SoFi Stadium.
“They just came and cleaned us out, took everything,” she said. “I know, because of the Super Bowl, they just push us aside because we’re homeless. That ain’t right.”
The cleanup was one of many that took place in Los Angeles County as the city prepares to host the matchup between the L.A. Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals. Some housing advocates say local leaders are trying to hide homelessness as they make little headway in easing the homelessness crisis.
The last count that took place, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, recorded 66,000 homeless people in L.A. County, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. A new count set to begin this month is expected to result in a much larger number.
Madeline Devillers, a volunteer who advocates for more resources for homeless people, said the situation can seem overwhelming.
“There’s so many unhoused people living on the streets,” she said. “And it seems like an unfixable problem because there are so many people.”
Local and state officials are working to allocate billions of dollars in federal, state and local funding to arrange or build housing for homeless people. Through a project called Homekey, the state made 6,000 housing units available in its first phase and has projected to add another 55,000 over the next few years.
But the program’s last report indicates that less than 2,000 units have been made available in Los Angeles County. As the region struggles with growing homelessness, it’s also gearing up to host the 2028 Olympics.
In recent months, the city of Los Angeles has voted to make street camping illegal in more than 200 locations, while across the county, encampments like the one where Taki lived are getting cleared. Hers was less than two miles from SoFi Stadium, but another encampment next to it, yet out of sight from passersby, was left untouched.
Taki said the people who cleared them out did not offer any type of help when she and the others living under the freeway were told to leave.
“They didn’t offer us no vouchers,” she said. “No nothing.”
Caltrans, the state transportation agency that conducted the removal, said it was coordinating with local agencies to provide “outreach and support” for the people who were dislocated.
The encampment “needed to be cleared due to a fire safety issue ... ” Caltrans said.
The mayor of Inglewood, where SoFi Stadium is, insisted that the cleanups had nothing to do with the Super Bowl.
“This is something that occurs year in and year out,” Mayor James Butts said. “So this one, it was just time for this one.”
Jass Singh, who runs a business next to the freeway, said that he’s glad the camp was cleared, but that he doesn’t think it will help in the long run.
“They do because people are going to come from out of town,” he said of Super Bowl visitors. “Is going to be busy here. Look nice. That’s why.”
Yet for local residents, the problem is real. A survey recently conducted by a coalition of civic leaders found that voters are angry and frustrated that leaders have failed to do much about the crisis.
“We’re focusing so much on building housing that can be made so much profit from it,” Devillers said, “but what we really need is low-income housing."