Podcast: Federal judge to Los Angeles: House your homeless, or else - Los Angeles Times
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Podcast: Federal judge to Los Angeles: House your homeless, or else

Julián Castro on skid row with a woman and a baby in a stroller
Julián Castro, the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development, visits skid row in 2019.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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Among everything that COVID-19 made worse, there is nothing more dire — or more visible — than its impact on homelessness.

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Over 66,000 people in Los Angeles County are homeless. It’s an issue that has bedeviled L.A., the land of sunshine and dreams, for decades. Everyone seems to have an idea on how to solve it. None seem to work.

Then last month, a federal judge issued an order: House everyone in skid row, the historical epicenter of homelessness in Los Angeles. House everyone by October — or else.

We speak with L.A. Times housing reporter Ben Oreskes and the Rev. Andy Bales, who runs Union Rescue Mission on skid row, about a move that could test whether there’s enough political will to solve homelessness once and for all.

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Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times housing reporter Ben Oreskes and Union Rescue Mission CEO Andy Bales

More Reading:
Judicial overreach? Some say judge went too far in ordering L.A. to clear skid row

About The Times

“The Times” is made by columnist Gustavo Arellano, producer Shannon Lin, senior producers Steven Cuevas and Denise Guerra, executive producer Abbie Fentress Swanson and editor Julia Turner. Our engineer is Mario Diaz and our theme song was composed by Andrew Eapen.

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