LA Metro is working on a plan with other county agencies to build a permanent homeless services center on the ground floor of their headquarters building, directly adjacent to Union Station.
Labeled as a “homeless navigation hub,” it would be located in a vacant “welcome center” at 1 Gateway Plaza, the 26-floor office building used by Metro employees. The homeless center, which would not serve as a shelter or include any beds or dwellings, would be located just off the curb from the Patsaouras Bus Plaza and just steps away from the eastern entrance to Union Station in northeast Los Angeles.
If built, it would be the first homeless service center to serve this busy transportation station, which serves several Metro rail lines, Metrolink, Amtrak, Metro buses, long-distance bus companies, the LAX-Fly Away shuttle as well as taxis and ride-hailing services.
Under the tentative plan, Metro would re-design the existing Welcome Center, which once provided customer services, that has been left vacant for several years into a homeless navigation center, Metro reported.
The navigation hub could include a homeless service provider, administrative case management personnel and housing navigation management, Metro reported.
“It’s where folks experiencing homelessness on Metro’s system could get access to a service provider that would link them to things they are in need of,” said Craig Joyce, deputy executive officer for homeless initiatives in an interview on Sept. 29.
The proposed homeless services center would not be a shelter. “There would not be beds. There’s no space for that,” Joyce added.
Union Station has the highest number of unhoused individuals among stations in the vast LA Metro system, said Los Angeles County Supervisor and LA Metro board member Hilda Solis.
The Metro system is unintentionally providing shelter for about 800 unhoused people every day, according to a Metro count from 2022. A new count was done last month but…
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