Estela lopez
Executive Director, Downtown Industrial District BIDEstela Lopez of the Central City East Association (CCEA) and the Downtown Industrial Business Improvement District (BID) is a decades-long opponent to harm reduction and has relentlessly blocked progress for evidence-based services and programs for Skid Row’s unhoused community, that would actually reduce the social issues she blames on harm reduction.
hilda solis
Board Chair and First District Supervisor, LA CountyUltimately, this decision was made by Hilda Solis. She initially championed the Skid Row Action Plan (SRAP) and the creation of the Skid Row Care Campus when it was politically convenient. Now, she’s running for Congress and abandoning the recommendations of public health experts and the Skid Row community.
THE CITY OF los angeles
los angeles county
THE board of supervisors
The leaders and institutions referenced above have all played a role in this and share accountability. Instead of listening to the Skid Row community, public health experts, and globally recognized best practices, they have chosen to ignore proven strategies for addressing homelessness, substance use, and mental health challenges.
Solving homelessness requires permanent housing for everyone, including individuals with complex behavioral health needs. Addressing overdose deaths and public drug use requires creating safe spaces where people who use drugs are allowed to exist and can access life-saving services and support.
These proven solutions have been successfully implemented worldwide for decades, yet our leaders continue to cowardly ignore them. Angelenos are exhausted by seeing billions of dollars wasted while nothing changes. Enough is enough.
‘Conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right."
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.