Functional Zero: Redondo Beach’s Unprecedented Success in Reducing Homelessness
The Road to Success
In the morning, Lila Omura checked in on a woman on the beach who was kicked out of her shelter, again, because she wouldn’t shower. By noon, she had comforted a raggedly dressed man outside a coffee shop who couldn’t stop crying and offered help to a woman on a bus bench who snapped back, "You need help more than I do."
A Predictably Unpredictable Morning
It was a predictably unpredictable morning for Omura, a housing navigator employed by the city and the field leader for an aggressive program to reduce homelessness on its streets to a bare minimum. Over the first six months of this year, the city reached a milestone: the median time it took Omura and her colleagues to get homeless people off the street fell to 14 days. That was more than it needed to earn the rare designation "functionally zero," a term broadly meaning that services are in balance with homelessness.
A New Milestone
The recognition came from the South Bay Cities Council of Governments, which picked Redondo Beach to lead the way to a goal of getting the upper hand on homelessness regionally. In 2017, on a per capita homelessness rate, the city of 68,000 had dropped from 11th to 51st among the county’s 56 cities that had homeless people, a Times analysis of homeless count data shows.
The Journey to Functional Zero
"Since 2017, our cities were doing well," said Ronson Chu, the council’s senior project manager for homeless and senior services. "We were making a lot of progress, especially Redondo Beach. We wanted to measure the progress so we can say to our constituents that these services are working, so we can hold ourselves accountable and educate the public."
The City’s Efforts
Redondo Beach was already well on the way to functional zero in 2022 when the Council of Governments launched its program. The first step was to get control of the city’s petty-crime problem. Homeless people were being arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct, and drug offenses. In 2020, City Attorney Mike Webb persuaded the Superior Court in nearby Torrance to send a judge to Redondo Beach one day a month to conduct a homeless court using the power of the bench to lead defendants toward shelter and treatment.
The Successes
Next, there had to be somewhere for those defendants to go. The city built a village of 20 tiny homes, leased five rooms in a single room occupancy hotel, formed relationships with the home-sharing nonprofit SHARE! Collaborative Housing and low-income housing provider Soul Housing. With $300,000 from its own budget, along with county, state, and federal grants and donations from service providers, the program has grown. The city now leases 18 SRO units and is adding 25 tiny homes. This summer, it opened a 20-unit permanent housing in a motel conversion funded by state Project Homekey and obtained a county grant to double the size of its tiny home village.
A Tribute to Lila Omura
Lila Omura, as shown through the [Photos of homeless individuals she has helped place into housing], has been instrumental in the city’s success in achieving functional zero. She has also been trained to work with clients who are resistant to help, like the woman on the bus bench who snapped back, "You need help more than I do."
Challenges Remain
While Redondo Beach has made significant progress in reducing homelessness, challenges remain. According to Lila Omura, some days just go that way, and success is not always immediate. She continues to work tirelessly to help individuals off the streets, even as the city celebrates its achievement of functional zero.
Conclusion
Redondo Beach’s achievement of functional zero is a testament to the city’s commitment to addressing homelessness and its ability to create innovative solutions to a complex problem. As a model for other cities to follow, Redondo Beach’s success serves as a reminder that with the right approach, even the most entrenched social issues can be overcome.
FAQs
Q: What is functional zero?
A: Functional zero refers to a state in which a community has measurably solved homelessness, making it rare and brief when it occurs, and documenting its progress with a by-name list updated at least monthly.
Q: What is the South Bay Cities Council of Governments?
A: The South Bay Cities Council of Governments is a regionally-based planning organization that addresses regional issues, including homelessness, through its member cities.
Q: What is the city’s goal?
A: The city’s goal is to reduce homelessness on its streets to a bare minimum through its program of housing, treatment, and support services.
Q: Who is Lila Omura?
A: Lila Omura is the city’s housing navigator and field leader for the homeless program, responsible for connecting individuals with available housing options and providing support services.
