(Cheery intro music)
- Just waking up in the morning.
It feels so good not to be waking up in a tent, like before.
I mean, I was homeless for so long,
took a shower and looked out the window,
looked out the windows at the buildings.
(uplifting background music)
On my first night there,
when I woke up the next morning,
I didn't know where I was at.
I was expecting to be back in the tent.
I had my tent,
well, at first I.. when I first started,
I had it from the block all the way to here.
(sirens blaring)
My tent, it's just full of water right now.
It couldn't stand the rain.
It just caved in.
So, I just had to just sit it out.
I mean, you know, even though it was raining on me,
and there was nothing I can do,
there was nowhere to go.
And this was my best option.
I didn't know where I was heading,
And then I was like, "Oh, I'm in a hotel."
Oh I was so happy.
That made me feel so good.
(news intro)
- (newscaster) L.A. Mayor, Karen Bass-
- LA Mayor, Karen Bass-
- Karen Bass-
- (newscaster) Today, Mayor Bass announcing her-
- Inside Safe Program.
- 100 million dollar program.
- To get the homeless off the street.
- Into hotels and motels.
- (newscaster) Where they can get services
and case management.
- (Narrator) On December 12th, the mayor of Los Angeles
declared a state of emergency
to address the city's homelessness crisis.
- People should not be left
to live and die on the street
because the city isn't giving them someplace to go.
- "Inside Safe" is designed to provide support services
and temporary housing,
including hotels for individuals living unhoused.
After 11 years living on Skid Row,
Cornell moved into a hotel provided by the program.
- It's so good to have a shower.
I was homeless for so long.
I mean, you know, when I wanted to be clean,
just come in here and take a shower,
do whatever I needed to do.
(Bubbly background music)
Seeing the hotel, seeing what kind of hotel it was,
I was like, "Whoa, am I actually gonna live in here?"
I just didn't think I was going to,
you know, be able to just get a hotel in there.
And when I did, I couldn't believe it.
I was just so happy.
So I walked the project, they told me,
you know, they gave me a time schedule,
told me when to be ready.
And when they picked me up,
they took me over there,
and, I admit, I was nervous.
But then the process went so smooth.
Went really smooth.
- I never wanted to do housing.
This is not, this is not the work I intended to do.
And it's not the intended work of my organization.
You know, we are a harm reduction organization,
so I would much prefer to be focusing
on safer drug use and safer sex.
But, the reality is
that people are just desperate for housing.
Right now, I'm driving around
and I'm looking for a particular person.
She is incredibly vulnerable.
She's experienced very extreme violence.
Recently, someone handed her an explosive
and it blew off her hand.
So we've been doing her wound care,
and we were able to get her
a great placement for housing,
but now I have to find her.
So I'm driving around the streets.
Hi.
- (woman on the street) I knew that was you.
- How you doing?
- Have you seen her?
- (woman) No. No. She supposedly went home
to her mom, said she was going home to her mom.
- Can you try and link me with her family?
'Cause I wanna make sure she's safe
before I give up her housing option.
- Ooh. I remember the first night I was homeless.
The bus dropped me off downtown L.A.,
I walked all the way from downtown L.A. to Hollywood,
and then I walked back here.
And then I just kept walking back and forth
for like a whole week.
I didn't know what to do.
I had a t-shirt on.
It was, it was hot in the day and cold in the night.
So I put my arms inside the t-shirt,
and found some cardboard boxes and laid on 'em.
I was all alone and didn't have any friends,
and didn't really have any family.
And I don't know,
it felt like everybody had just turned their backs on me.
And even the people that I was trying to meet
wouldn't even pay attention to me.
So, I get to eat now.
I get to eat better.
I get to take care of myself better,
I get to shower,
look in the mirror, you know,
and fix my hair and the things that I want to do.
And sleep in the bed.
Sleep in a clean bed with a air conditioner, you know.
- (Soma) Hey, Bud, you okay?
Hey friend, you okay? - (man) Yeah.
- (Soma) Are you just resting?
- (man) Yeah. - (Soma) Perfect.
Alright, I'll leave you to it.
Other situations that we're constantly dealing with,
is you know, like when we finally get people in somewhere,
then a lot of the housing providers
have very strict rules,
including things like curfews or,
you know, expectations that people only
bring a certain amount of belongings,
or you know, a lot of behavioral expectations.
So we'll see people that we've worked very hard
to get them off of the street and into a stable environment,
get exited again to the street,
and then we have to start from scratch.
But it happens all the time.
(gentle music)
We want "Inside Safe" to succeed.
We need to meet people where they are.
- It's a story we've been reporting on for years.
- Is it different this time?
- (newscaster) There is no debate that
urgent action is needed.
- It's a sad situation for everyone involved.
- (Narrator) "Inside Safe" is one approach
to a complex issue that divides Los Angeles.
- Lives and livelihoods are at stake.
- All these buildings going up,
hundreds of millions of dollars,
and we can't help the homeless?
- (Narrator) Both housed and unhoused have rights and homes,
whether or not they have a roof.
- Being homeless is not a crime.
- Put one tent, two tent, three,
and then it's like, a whole block.
- (commentator) You shouldn't be made to feel unwelcome
in your own home.
- (Fox newscaster) People that lived on the streets
along San Vicente now gone.
- (ABC newscaster) His former encampment no longer exists.
- (CBS newscaster) So it appears that this is a sign
that this initiative is working.
- (Narrator) At this moment, change is coming
to Los Angeles.
- I don't want it to end here, though.
- I can guarantee that they will be back
within an hour or two. at the most.
- (Narrator) The crisis, however, remains.
- We have found multiple weaknesses in the system.
- (ABC newscaster) The program has brought
more than 1200 people indoors.
- (Fox newscaster) What the mayor says is lacking...
- (CBS newscaster) The help and the services
they were promised.
- (Narrator) For Unhoused Angelenos, "Inside Safe,"
is both a narrow path and a way forward.
- Considering the conditions that I was living in,
oh, it feels so good. It feels good.
I can't explain it.
It's like a miracle, seriously.
I am so glad that happened.
Thank God I made it. (laughing)
Thank God I had some good friends, you know.
Thank God.
- (Soma) Housing for all means housing for all people.
That includes communities
who really wanna see unhoused people safe inside.
Jenny, it's Soma.
Where you at?
Hey mama.
- (Jenny) Yeah, hi.
- (Soma) I got you a placement.
- (Jenny) Where?
- (Soma) For housing.
(exciting music)
(outro)