Mobile Vaccinations and Housing Update
Hey all,
I hope everyone is doing well! I wanted to give a quick update on a few various fronts!
LA City Housing Element
We will start with a quick, good news update: the motion before the LA City council passed overwhelmingly two weeks ago! That motion called on the LA City planning department to re-do its planning approach to its new housing element. Thanks to those who send letters!
It will be some time before we see the latest updated plan for the housing element, but there is hope that the second time around, it will be fairer and bolder to plan for housing. Some good news is that the LA Times editorial board came out with a clear and unambiguous declaration that the city needs to be more aggressive in its approach. There was a lot of good part of that article, including:
That’s why it’s so worrisome that the Housing Element under development isn’t breaking new ground, at least not yet. The initial study from the city Planning Department suggests no major zoning or policy alterations. It simply reinforces the status quo, which is exactly how L.A. ended up with a staggering shortage of housing, particularly for lower-income Angelenos.
That’s a problem. There’s no way L.A. can usher in half a million new homes when apartment complexes and townhomes are banned in single-family zones, which make up 75% of the city’s residential property.
Almost half of the new housing built in L.A. between 2012 to 2019 was located in lower-income communities, according to an analysis by a coalition of housing, social justice and environmental groups. But about 90% of the new homes built during that period were unaffordable to working-class Angelenos. No wonder so many renters and neighborhoods are concerned about gentrification and displacement. Much of the development is happening in poorer neighborhoods, but the homes are priced for wealthier households.
The City Council and Garcetti could direct new development toward affluent, high-opportunity communities that have been traditionally closed to denser, more affordable housing. They could allow small apartment buildings, townhomes and bungalow courts in single-family neighborhoods. They could adopt tenant protections and discourage redevelopment of rent-stabilized apartments. They could incentivize developers to include more affordable units in their new buildings. They could streamline permitting so it’s easier and cheaper to build much-needed homes for all income levels.
We will be following this closely as it develops!
Mobile Vaccinations
As announced at church, we were approved to turn our church parking lot into a mobile vaccine site! We will have our initial pop-up site on March 20th. We are excited to do this, as we have seen how the existing vaccine infrastructure has not always been accessible by all of our neighbors. Our Clinic is a great chance to make sure both our church family and the broader community have an opportunity to access the vaccine.
Our site will be following all of the state eligibility requirements, which right now includes:
Medical Workers + Nursing and Long-term care residents and workers
People over 65
Childcare and Education workers, including K-12 Teachers, Daycare workers, and college and university instructors
Food and Agriculture workers, including grocery, food service, and food manufacturing workers
Emergency Service workers, including police, firefighters, and other first responders
In the coming days, we will be giving more information on how folks can sign up for slots at the site. In the meantime, you can reach out to family and friends who may be eligible but have not had access to other vaccination sites.
I cannot stress enough that to be able to pull this off; we need to give an “all hands on deck” effort, both to run the mobile clinic on the day AND to get the word out about the vaccine. Please volunteer to help out by filling out this form. It will be a great way to serve and love our community during this time!
If you have ANY questions, please email me at thomas@newlifelh.com, or text me.
Thank you so much, and see you all next week!