AUGUST 8, 2023 (Los Angeles, CA) — Miguel A. Santana, President and CEO of the Weingart Foundation, a private grantmaking foundation that partners with communities across Southern California to advance racial justice, released the following statement.
“We applaud the decision by the Los Angeles County Board Supervisors to establish a regional governance structure for homelessness. Further, the Weingart Foundation along with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, commits to support the creation of a leadership table that brings together the County, City of Los Angeles, Council of Governments, service providers, key civic leaders, and people with lived experience, to further regional alignment.
“We’ve invested in understanding the best practices in creating a regional approach for homelessness in Los Angeles, including sponsoring the report commissioned in September 2020, authored by Dr. Raphael Sonenshein at the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State LA. The report underscores the necessity of a stronger regional strategy to address the homelessness crisis.
“The regional governance structure that the Board of Supervisors approved today can help operationalize the unprecedented cooperation between the City and County of Los Angeles under the leadership of the Board and Mayor Bass.
“We thank the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for taking this critical and important step towards advancing solutions to our region’s housing and homelessness crises.”
ABOUT THE WEINGART FOUNDATION
The Weingart Foundation is a private, nonprofit grantmaking foundation that partners with communities across Southern California to advance racial, social, and economic justice for all. Our vision is a dynamic and effective social change sector that is creating equitable systems and structures needed to achieve justice. Founded in 1951, the Foundation has to date granted over $1 billion to organizations, strengthening their efforts in human services, housing, health, education, and community power building. In addition, the Foundation builds networks and collaboratives with philanthropic, public sector, and community leaders to advance equity and justice together.