LOS ANGELES, July 11, 2023 - Los Angeles recently surpassed New York City as having the largest number of homeless in the country. Officially, 69,000 people are classified as being without shelter, but many believe the figure is higher. David Renard, President of RPM Team, shared a successful navigation model to attendees of the Urban Land Institute's (ULI) Homelessness 3.0 Conference: Housing Now! Responding to a State of Emergency.
"The city of Los Angeles needs to take a more immediate approach to addressing the homelessness crisis because it does not have the kind of time required for Housing First to be the only acceptable solution to a worsening crisis. We can build shelters in a matter of months and for a fraction of the cost of hotel rehabs and purchases," stated David Renard, RPM Team.
Called navigation centers, these high-performance mobile shelters can be built in months for significantly less than the cost of traditional construction. Navigation center shelters achieve the stated goals of the Housing First philosophy – providing people with a safe and secure place to stay while working to get back in control of their lives, offering necessary services such as access to mental health care, substance abuse treatment and job training.
Renard stated that the city's current Housing First policy is not working and an immediate solution is needed to help the thousands of people currently surviving on the streets.
"According to Jenna Hornstock, LA's Deputy Mayor of Housing, '5 people are dying every day in LA.' The problem is immediate, timing is everything." Renard said. "We've worked on projects resulting in success for thousands of people. Our navigation sites are built within 3-4 months and enable access to necessary services for those transitioning to a better life and permanent housing."
Partnering with modular building manufacturers like Sprung Structures and Foldum to deliver congregate and non-congregate navigation centers, the navigation center projects have provided shelter and services for more than 10,000 people to-date. With access to mental health care, substance abuse treatment, and job training, the inhabitants have a safe and secure place to stay while working to get back in control of their lives.
RPM Team has a proven track record of success in creating temporary shelters. The company has worked on projects in cities such as San Francisco, Sacramento, Huntington Beach and Phoenix. RPM Homeless projects can be found here: https://www.rpm-team.com/homeless
"We are confident that navigation sites and services will be life changing for both unhoused and housed citizens of Los Angeles," Renard said. "We urge the city to consider our proposal and to work with us to help solve this crisis."
About RPM Team
RPM Team is a turnkey program management firm specializing in providing innovative housing solutions to individuals experiencing homelessness. The company has delivered temporary shelters, navigation centers, and triage centers. RPM Team is committed to finding solutions to the homelessness crisis and believes temporary shelters are a viable option that can help people get off the streets and into housing.
CONTACT: David Renard, david@rpm-team.com;
SOURCE RPM Team LLC
