DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Homelessness is one of Los Angeles' most complicated and persistent problems. With the help of a multimillion-dollar grant, a new coalition of public agencies and private foundations says it has come up with what could be the city's long-awaited solution to homelessness.
"We can provide access to an affordable place to live and the supportive services that they need to really thrive in that housing," said Christine Marge, the director of United Way's Home For Good project.
Marge says the project will spend $213 million over the next 15 years to provide housing for 1,400 of L.A.'s most vulnerable.
"Those folks have been outside for a long period of time, years, sometimes decades, and face serious health and mental health problems while they're out there," said Marge.
The money will also go toward expanding a computerized tracking and placement system that will provide the homeless with services like medical and psychiatric care.
L.A. City Councilman Jose Huizar, who represents most of downtown, including Skid Row, is calling for the city to create a homeless "czar," a person dedicated to the task of tackling homelessness in the city of Los Angeles.
"We need to create something by ordinance where there's a person in there thinking about this each and every day," said Huizar.
And while much attention is paid to the estimated 4,000 people who are homeless in downtown L.A., the issue is a regional problem. United Way says there are more than 50,000 homeless people throughout Los Angeles County.
"You see folks everywhere from Hollywood to Santa Monica, Long Beach, Pomona and everywhere in between," said Marge.