Mayor Bass Highlights Mayor’s Fund’s Homelessness Prevention Work in 2025 State of the City Address
During her 2025 State of the City address on April 21, Mayor Karen Bass underscored the important work and effectiveness of the Mayor’s Fund’s We Are LA Program:
“[W]e must figure out how to prevent people from ending up on the street in the first place, and if we don’t, we’ll have more of the same. 25,000 in 2016 exploded to 46,000 in 2022 because every day, more people were falling into homelessness than being lifted out of it.
“The problem is, there are few – if any – research-tested programs actively preventing people from losing their homes.
“The Mayor’s Fund connects people in danger of becoming homeless with resources that will help them stay housed, whether it is food and healthcare assistance to ease financial burdens so people can pay their rent, or legal assistance to avoid evictions.
“We had the Mayor’s Fund program analyzed by Loyola Marymount University, and during the six month study period alone, the Mayor’s Fund connected 31,000 Angelenos with resources to help them stay housed.”
–Mayor Karen Bass
The Mayor invited several Mayor’s Fund clients to the speech, who expressed their gratitude for the We Are LA program for helping them stay in their homes:
“A lot of us don’t know that there are resources out there – that there’s help out there. I’m glad that this program was out there. It saved me. I’m sleeping at home with my daughter.”
–Margo Gonzalez
“[We Are LA’s] program advisors walked me through the legal process and helped me make an appointment with a lawyer at no cost. Before coming to We Are LA, other services would tell me to just fill out a form online. Thanks to We Are LA, I paid my rent and never had to go to court.”
–Araceli Compoy
