THANKSGIVING LUNCH AND RESOURCE EVENT LINKS PERSONS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS WITH SERVICES AND MEALS
(Los Angeles, California) Today, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) along with its partners PATH (People Assisting the Homeless), the St. Joseph Center, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, and Griffith Construction Co., provided hot Thanksgiving lunches to 85 persons experiencing homelessness as part of the November Manchester Square Lunch and Resource Event. Fifteen service providers were on hand to provide resources to attendees, including assistance with finding permanent housing, free haircuts, legal assistance, driving record reviews with the California Department of Motor Vehicles, and more.
“Looking out for one and other is a year-round effort at Los Angeles World Airports, and we’re committed to helping as many people as we can through the services that were provided today,” said Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners Vice President Valeria Velasco. “I want to thank our partners at PATH, the St. Joseph Center, LA City and County, as well as Griffith Construction for bringing this event together, and for providing a hot meal for those who may not otherwise have one this Thanksgiving holiday.”
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“Accessing resources and navigating the system can be difficult for those experiencing homelessness or who are in need of help, which is why we are committed to bringing established partners and meaningful resources to those living at Manchester Square,” said LAWA’s Deputy Executive Director for External Affairs, Trevor Daley.“Since we began our homeless outreach efforts, hundreds of individuals have received services, including being connected to temporary and permanent housing. Our hope is to open doors for our attendees to a quality of life that provides stability, security, and good health for themselves and their families.”
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Over the past year, LAWA has worked with a variety of non-profit, municipal, and private partners to connect persons experiencing homelessness in the Manchester Square neighborhood to goods and services that can help them find new homes and new opportunities. Attendees of previous resource connection events have had access to services as diverse as offering corrections to legal and driving records, to those providing showers, haircuts, and new shoes, as well as medical services and hygiene kits. These continued efforts have reduced the number of persons experiencing homelessness from over 400 at the beginning of the year to less than 100 today.
Yesterday, Christina Miller, LAWA’s Project Manager for Homeless Issues, taped an hour-long interview about the work that Los Angeles World Airports is doing to help reduce homelessness in and around the airport, and the success of their focused and consistent efforts. The video can be viewed here .
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“There is nothing simple about addressing homelessness, which is why we rely on our regional partners to join us every month in Manchester Square to offer comprehensive resources, focused on the only solution- housing and services,” said Miller. “It takes legal, medical, employment, and shelter services all working together to move the needle on this issue and achieve a reduction in street homelessness.”
Earlier this month, more than 50 LAWA staff members and friends joined in over 10,000 people in raising money to end homelessness in LA through the United Way of Greater Los Angeles’ 11th Annual HomeWalk event. Though the event has already taken place, the United Way is still accepting donations until December 31, 2017, which goes directly to helping those experiencing homelessness get off the streets and into supportive housing.
Groups who are interested in working with LAWA to reduce homelessness in the Manchester Square area can contact Christina Miller at (424) 646-5068.
About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
LAX is the fourth busiest airport in the world, second in the United States, and was named one of Skytrax’ 2017 Top 10 Most Improved Airports. LAX served more than 80.9 million passengers in 2016. LAX offers 737 daily nonstop flights to 100 cities in the U.S. and 1,386 weekly nonstop flights to 88 cities in 44 countries on 73 commercial air carriers. LAX ranks 14th in the world and fifth in the U.S. in air cargo tonnage processed, with more than 2.2 million tons of air cargo valued at over $101.4 billion. LAX handled 697,138 operations (landings and takeoffs) in 2016.
An economic study based on 2014 operations reported LAX generated 620,600 jobs in Southern California with labor income of $37.3 billion and economic output (business revenues) of more than $126.6 billion. This activity added $6.2 billion to local and state revenues and $8.7 billion in federal tax revenues. The study also reported that LAX’s ongoing capital-improvement program creates an additional 121,640 annual jobs with labor income of $7.6 billion and economic output of $20.3 billion, $966 million in state and local taxes, and $1.6 billion in federal tax revenues.
LAX is also the second most popular airport in the world to appear on Instagram according to wego.com. LAX is part of a system of two Southern California airports – along with Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City’s general fund.
As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and activities. Alternative formats in large print, braille, audio, and other forms (if possible) will be provided upon request.
