Housing
Homelessness and the housing shortage in Los Angeles County is a crisis. No one should be without shelter, a bed, or access to vital resources. The annual Point-in-Time Count which quantifies the unhoused population in Los Angeles County, showed that homelessness has decreased over the past two consecutive years both throughout the County and across the San Gabriel Valley.. As of today, there are approximately 72,300 people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County. And across the San Gabriel Valley, there are about 4,500 people experiencing homelessness on a given night. While I am heartened by the reduction in unsheltered homelessness in our region, this is still a crisis and it remains is unacceptable that any person goes to sleep without a roof over their head.
During the Congressional appropriations process, Members of Congress are able to submit requests to bring federal dollars to our local communities, otherwise known as Community Project Funding (CPF) requests. Each year, one of my top priorities in the Community Project Funding is increasing the supply of affordable housing in the San Gabriel Valley.
Since 2022, I have secured $8 million dollars for the San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust’s Project Pipeline, which builds local affordable housing units for those who need it most. For example, the $4 million I helped secure for this Pipeline in 2023 went to the creation of 60 affordable housing units for families in Claremont. I am committed to continuing to support this important project and the increasing supply of affordable housing in our communities.
I am also working through the legislative process to provide more federal housing vouchers, improve tax incentives for affordable housing development, bolster homeownership opportunities, and provide more community funds for homeless assistance.
January’s Eaton Fire also exacerbated the preexisting housing crisis in our region, displacing over 20,000 people. When I found out that timely mortgage payments from homeowners affected by the Eaton Fire dropped by nearly 17% from December 2024 through February 2025, I introduced H.R. 2928, the Mortgage Relief for Disaster Survivors Act with Representative Brad Sherman, which would provide homeowners in presidentially declared disaster areas who have a federally backed mortgage with 180 days of mortgage forbearance, with the option of extending for an additional 180 days and without any additional interest, penalties, or fees accruing. Senators Schiff and Bennet introduced the Senate version of our bill.
While critical federal housing assistance has been provided, I know that survivors are still slipping through the cracks. That’s why I convened a roundtable with local advocates and government officials to discuss how we can continue to support Altadena through its recovery and make sure that all of our neighbors have access to stable, affordable, and local housing. Following this roundtable, I led my colleagues in urging FEMA to explore every available disaster housing assistance program for fire survivors, including the Direct Lease program that can offer stable housing directly to survivors, without going through landlords. We should not be leaving any tools on the table.