Welcome to the February edition of The Road Home. This edition of our newsletter features articles on the unsheltered point-in-time count, sustainable funding to address homelessness, and LAHSA's Executive Director Heidi Marston's vision for 2021. For more frequent updates, check out our blog on Medium, also called The Road Home, here.
Safety Concerns Prevent This Year’s Unsheltered Point-in-Time Count
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approved the Los Angeles Continuum of Care’s waiver request to forgo the unsheltered Point-In-Time (PIT) count (more commonly known as the Homeless Count) in 2021 due to COVID-19 safety concerns.

“Since the pandemic first came to our region, LAHSA has put the health and safety of our clients, volunteers, and community first. We did not come to this decision easily, but it is the safe one, and the right one,” LAHSA Executive Director Heidi Marston said.
Heidi Marston Advocates State Legislative Committee for Sustainable Funding to Address Homelessness
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Executive Director Heidi Marston spoke at the Jan. 21 Assembly Joint Budget & Housing Committee Hearing about strengthening partnerships between the state and local agencies to address the coronavirus pandemic and homelessness crisis head-on. Read her remarks below.
LAHSA’s Life-Saving Mission in 2021
On June 5, 2020, Heidi Marston became the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s Executive Director. Marston came on board to lead LAHSA in a time where the COVID-19 crisis overlayed an urgent level of complexity on top of a worsening homeless crisis in Los Angeles. Her top priority for her first two years is to transform LAHSA into an equity-focused, crisis response leader for homelessness across Los Angeles.
Winter Shelters
The Winter Shelter Program continues to operate across the County to protect people experiencing homelessness during Los Angeles's colder months. Winter Shelters are located all across the County, and will be operating 24 hours a day this year due to COVID‑19.

In addition to new programs, weather-activated shelters will be opened by the LA City and County Office of Emergency Management for up to 30 days during extreme wet and cold weather conditions.

For more information, please click on the link below.