Direct grassroots community organizing
Each of LACEH&H's projects infuses a grass roots organizing and community education model that actively involves the people who are homeless through community education, empowerment, leadership development, building alliances with other key stakeholders in this process stakeholders in three areas, South Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley and the East San Gabriel Valley. Within this organizing model of actively involving homeless people as well as building alliances and partnerships with a diverse constituency, LACEH&H is engaged in:
- Advocacy. In order achieve the public policy changes to address the crisis of homelessness and food insecurity LACEH&H engages in reorienting the public policy systems at multiple levels of the county bureaucracies; elected officials, as well as reorienting and securing expanded funding streams from the state and federal sources.
- Grassroots Action Research. LACEH&H conducts research and disseminates model policies and procedures; conducts focus groups with homeless/formerly homeless people and other consumers of services for very low-income people; and conducts surveys of departments to ensure effective implementation.
- Public Policy Reform. LACEH&H seeks to change policies and procedures at the local, state and national levels by engaging affected constituencies in under-served geographic areas with a focus on South Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley and the East San Gabriel Valley.
- Media Advocacy. Multiple media strategies [continuing coverage by print and electronic media; op-ed’s; editorials; radio and t.v. talk shows; bill board campaigns etc] are incorporated in our work to engage the community in our outreach, organizing and advocacy efforts.
- Voter Engagement. As part of this overall organizing model, LACEH&H, in partnership with LibertyVote, will continue to provide nonpartisan voter education and mobilization to homeless and very low-income people.
Legal advocacy. LACEH&H engages in legal advocacy as a strategy to achieve public policy changes to benefit homeless and very low-income people. We have been successful in lawsuits to stop anti-homeless ordinances; redevelopment projects that would displace residents; punitive welfare regulations; and closure of health care clinics.