Los Angeles in 'State of Emergency' Due to 'Homelessness'

Homeless people--they are seen everywhere. With over 44,000 homeless people finding refuge anywhere along the streets of Los Angeles, elected officials prompted for a move on Tuesday to declare the city in a state of emergency due to homelessness.

Los Angeles' count for homeless people has been in a steady increase and have grown for more than 10 percent in the past two years, Los Angeles Times reports.

In response to the home crisis, City Council and Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti promised to allocate $100 million as an aid for the homeless which will come from the annual budget, the Los Angeles Times added.  

According to CBS, the hundred-million aid will be used to provide permanent shelter programs.

"This city has pushed this problem from neighborhood to neighborhood for too long, from bureaucracy to bureaucracy," Garcetti said in a press conference as Yahoo UK reports. "Every single day we come to work, we see folks lying on this grass, a symbol of our city's intense crisis."

Meanwhile, Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian told CBS that Los Angeles government "spend millions of dollars each year to manage the problem, but without any strategy or long term goals."

"Ending homelessness is a moral imperative that also makes financial sense for our city," Krerorian added.

Reasons for the home crisis? Experts pin point at high renting rates, low salary and increasing number of unemployed individuals, Los Angeles Times says.

Low-priced hotels, motels and apartments which were once the last option for Los Angeles' poor have been eliminated, according to the same report, hence forcing them to settle on the streets with makeshift tents, if they are lucky enough. Some, however, settle for blankets or none at all. 

Housing fund also deteriorated last year, plummeting from $108 million in 2008 down to $26 million, says the same report.

Experts also cited the Los Angeles weather and climate as factors that led to Los Angeles' housing crisis. Warm weather accommodates and attracts homeless individuals to flock and settle in the streets, the Los Angeles Times added.

Most of the homeless individuals, more than half of them, can be found in the City of Los Angeles, CBS reports. Countywide, as of January, the population hits 44,359.  

According to the latest survey released by Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, a total of 25,686 Angelinos are homeless and a larger portion of them were single adults, accounting for 82 percent of the population. Men dominate the population and most of the homeless were identified to be under ages 25-54. African-Americans make up the most of the count, attributing 47 percent of the population.