Quality of Life Program, Long Beach
Donation protected
The City of Long Beach has a population of approximately 460,000 people with 2,345 experiencing homelessness. The regional system of care includes soup kitchens, shelters, and support services that address mental health issues, drug and alcohol addictions and the need for vocational training, is becoming overburdened. The added help that our city offers is the Multi-Service Center.
The Long Beach Police Foundation provides financial support for the Long Beach Police Department's "Quality of Life" unit which assists in facilitating services, providing resources and protection for the homeless in Long Beach. The "Quality of Life" unit was founded in 2007 in an effort to impact vagrancy related crimes, reduce the number of calls for service related to the homeless population, and to seek long term solutions for these issues. The unit is staffed by two Long Beach police officers, and a dedicated Los Angeles County mental health clinician. This amazing team works effectively to outreach with the homeless population in parks, alleys, shelters, hospitals, and the City's Multi-Service Center.
The "Quality of Life" unit works with women, men and families with children that live here in Long Beach, and have assisted people from differing states abandoned or kicked out of the house they lived in. The Unit also encounters young adults that have been lured from other areas of the state or out of state who end up in difficult situations. The team finds people who are unable to manage their finances due to their special needs. They are taken advantage of and the unit finds resources to help them. The "Quality of Life" unit helps people who have lost their jobs or assists them if their jobs do not pay them enough to afford the deposits for housing.
The "Quality of LIfe" unit goes out into the parks to offer assistance for the treatment of those mentally impaired; the people who want to get off the street and are ready to be treated for their addictions. They need ID cards replaced, birth cetificates, temporary housing and assistance with sober housing needs. The "Quality of Life" units pays through the Long Beach Police Foundation, for transportation by bus, back home when the families can't assist or are only able to pay half of the fees. The trusting bond that the "Quality of LIfe" unit extablished with the homeless who in turn, feel comfortable to call the officers for help as they did for a young mother and a six day old newborn living in the park. The "Quality of Life" unit assisted 1,188 homeless last year.
Here are a few instances the "Quality of Life" unit would like to share; one officer was doing outreach with the homeless and came in contact with an older man in a wheel chair. He had speech and memory problems from being attacked two years ago. He had been living on the streets in L.A. and Long Beach. It was this officer who started to talk to him and put together where he had come from and that he had family on the East Coast. His family had been looking for him for two years. The officer found his son who was in college and had the local police inform him that his father had been found.
Our Officer was working with James and Ricci who had lived on the street for 25 years. They were not able to get their social security and VA benefits without help. They slept on a park bench feeling that no one cared enough to help them. James lived with his parents and worked as a caretaker, he was unable to run a household after his parents died, leaving him on the street. Ricci was unable to function without the support of his wife who had died of an illness. He didn't know how to deal with everyday finances and lost their home. The "Quality of LIfe" unit worked with James and Ricci building a trust that allowed them to be placed in permanent housing. The photo you see is of a family living on the beach after their funds ran out and they couldn't pay for a place to live, and they needed medicine for one of the parents and children. We were able to get them help and vocational training that allowed the father to get a different job.
The Long Beach Police Foundation needs your help in funding a diverse population who needs are multifaceted. Our goal this year is $25,000 for the Long Beach Police Foundation, "Quality of Life" program.
The Long Beach Police Foundation provides financial support for the Long Beach Police Department's "Quality of Life" unit which assists in facilitating services, providing resources and protection for the homeless in Long Beach. The "Quality of Life" unit was founded in 2007 in an effort to impact vagrancy related crimes, reduce the number of calls for service related to the homeless population, and to seek long term solutions for these issues. The unit is staffed by two Long Beach police officers, and a dedicated Los Angeles County mental health clinician. This amazing team works effectively to outreach with the homeless population in parks, alleys, shelters, hospitals, and the City's Multi-Service Center.
The "Quality of Life" unit works with women, men and families with children that live here in Long Beach, and have assisted people from differing states abandoned or kicked out of the house they lived in. The Unit also encounters young adults that have been lured from other areas of the state or out of state who end up in difficult situations. The team finds people who are unable to manage their finances due to their special needs. They are taken advantage of and the unit finds resources to help them. The "Quality of Life" unit helps people who have lost their jobs or assists them if their jobs do not pay them enough to afford the deposits for housing.
The "Quality of LIfe" unit goes out into the parks to offer assistance for the treatment of those mentally impaired; the people who want to get off the street and are ready to be treated for their addictions. They need ID cards replaced, birth cetificates, temporary housing and assistance with sober housing needs. The "Quality of Life" units pays through the Long Beach Police Foundation, for transportation by bus, back home when the families can't assist or are only able to pay half of the fees. The trusting bond that the "Quality of LIfe" unit extablished with the homeless who in turn, feel comfortable to call the officers for help as they did for a young mother and a six day old newborn living in the park. The "Quality of Life" unit assisted 1,188 homeless last year.
Here are a few instances the "Quality of Life" unit would like to share; one officer was doing outreach with the homeless and came in contact with an older man in a wheel chair. He had speech and memory problems from being attacked two years ago. He had been living on the streets in L.A. and Long Beach. It was this officer who started to talk to him and put together where he had come from and that he had family on the East Coast. His family had been looking for him for two years. The officer found his son who was in college and had the local police inform him that his father had been found.
Our Officer was working with James and Ricci who had lived on the street for 25 years. They were not able to get their social security and VA benefits without help. They slept on a park bench feeling that no one cared enough to help them. James lived with his parents and worked as a caretaker, he was unable to run a household after his parents died, leaving him on the street. Ricci was unable to function without the support of his wife who had died of an illness. He didn't know how to deal with everyday finances and lost their home. The "Quality of LIfe" unit worked with James and Ricci building a trust that allowed them to be placed in permanent housing. The photo you see is of a family living on the beach after their funds ran out and they couldn't pay for a place to live, and they needed medicine for one of the parents and children. We were able to get them help and vocational training that allowed the father to get a different job.
The Long Beach Police Foundation needs your help in funding a diverse population who needs are multifaceted. Our goal this year is $25,000 for the Long Beach Police Foundation, "Quality of Life" program.
Organizer
Denise Porrazzo
Organizer
Long Beach, CA
