At a news conference outside City Hall, One LA and a coalition of tenant advocates pressed the city to move forward with a 'right to counsel' ordinance, calling on Mayor Eric Garcetti to allocate $10 million to assist tenants in his upcoming budget.

"We have a humanitarian crisis in our city in regards to homelessness and housing," said Fr. David Matz of St. Agnes Catholic Church. "In the last ten years we have lost one thousand families from our parish due to these issues. Many of our elderly are forced out of their apartments and left homeless."

Every year, close to 30,000 people in Los Angeles face evictions. The money from the city would go not only to legal aid, but also to education and prevention, outreach and emergency payments to help keep struggling renters in their homes. The price tag of $10 million would fund the first year of a multi-year timeline to phase it in. 

"One LA has worked alongside Mayor Garcetti on the passing of proposition HHH and the linkage fee," continued Fr. Matz. "Now the LA Right to Counsel Coalition is presenting this strategy to address one of the biggest root problems of homelessness-- evictions. We know that Mayor Garcetti is working diligently so we ask him for his support for the "Right to Counsel" and to fully fund it."

Tenant activists want L.A. Mayor Garcetti to put $10 million into ‘right to counsel’, Los Angeles Times

Inquilinos Solicitan Ley Que Los Proteja del Desalojo, Estrella News (Video en Español)

500 One LA delegates from 28 member institutions assembled to hold themselves, and elected officials, accountable on a Sunday afternoon in July. Delegates ratified a new strategy team, updated the bylaws, and pledged increased dues.

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Building on a four-year campaign, One LA leaders and their allies shaped, pushed for and passed Measure M to raise $120 Billion for new rail lines, improved bus services, and street and highway projects which will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and make finding and getting to a job easier for working poor families across LA County.

Passing this bond measure required meeting a challenging two-thirds voter threshold for approval. This extraordinary victory took a county-wide education and mobilization of non-traditional allies crossing significant geographic, racial, religious and socioeconomic lines.

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"We came. We knocked doors. We registered. We organized." Following months of civic academies, in a long campaign to improve public transit in Los Angeles, while creating local jobs and preserving affordable housing, One LA leaders knocked on doors from South Los Angeles to the San Gabriel Valley to West LA and the San Fernando Valley. Leaders are promoting a "yes" vote on Measure M, a ballot measure that they helped shape, in addition to other Propositions. Additional photos, One LA

In South LA, eight institutions gathered at St. Brigid Catholic Church to launch their 'Breaking Barriers' to employment strategy. Proposition 47, which permits individuals to clear their records of non-serious offenses, has the potential to make individuals more marketable as employees if proper paperwork is submitted. To prepare for the day, 30 leaders learned how to guide applicants through the process, while another group of leaders created a resume workshop and panel discussions on restorative justice in the schools and interview best practices.

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One LA leaders are leading efforts around construction of transit lines and the creation of affordable housing around new transit hubs. Leaders hosted a stakeholders gathering in collaboration with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, drawing over 150 members of One LA congregations, schools, non-profits, unions and public and private entities. Soon after, leaders from ten One LA institutions attended the monthly Metro Board Meeting to welcome the new Metro CEO, Philip Washington, and to present their Opportunity Agenda of jobs, housing, and transit improvements. Metro, also known as the MTA, has a huge opportunity in 2016 to move each of those interests forward. One LA looks forward to being part of the conversation around a potential 2016 ballot measure.

Additional photos.

Hundreds of One LA-IAF leaders convened at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Pacoima with candidates for Los �ngeles County Supervisor District 3, Sheila Kuehl and Bobby Shriver. Leaders leveraged commitments from both to:

• Increase funding for My Health LA if the current funding stream falls short of covering all those eligible;

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"After thanking board of supervisors members for their commitment to support heath care for Los Angeles County's poor, Jim Mangia, president and CEO of St. John's Well Child and Family Center, asked the people who came with him to the May 20 public meeting "to support health care for all" to stand up.

Hundreds upon hundreds of "women and men from across the county rose — cheering, clapping, shouting and raising their hands high in the air. The grass-roots commotion went on for almost a minute."

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After identifying $11 million in otherwise sunsetting County funds, One LA-IAF leaders testified to the Board of Supervisors about their year long enrollment effort and the the gaps that remain even after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act -- gaps that will have serious consequences for families throughout the county.

They demanded that the $11M be used to help cover the remaining uninsured in LA County. After the press conference, Rabbi Dara Frimmer asserted that she was "proud to stand with OneLA leaders outside the county supervisors meeting because as of today, 1 million residents of LA remain uninsured...Time to ensure that the image of God, imprinted on the face of every human being, is lifted up."

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