Providers warn access centers will close without July funding; committee hears human‑scale impacts

At the Special Housing and Homelessness Committee meeting, providers from across Los Ángeles described how access centers function as an emergency gateway and pleaded with members to preserve funding that is due to lapse on July 1.

"These centers in the city of Los Ángeles in the last fiscal year have served more than 200,000 people," Ben Coy of SSG Apex told the committee. "A partir del 1 de julio, estos centros de acceso ya no van a contar con fondos." That warning framed successive personal accounts: a worker described administering Narcan to revive an overdose patient, others described hundreds of thousands of meals and thousands of showers provided through access centers.

Speakers emphasized both scale and consequence. Eladio Estrada said his center had served 1,500 people and enrolled 550 into programs, helping more than 100 find housing; Megan Hermia and George Holley described how delayed reimbursements and unpaid invoices are forcing reliance on credit lines and threatening program continuity.

The committee took these public comments into its discussion of items 3, 8, 10 and 11 (taken by consent) and item 13 (modified and approved), and members pressed staff on cash‑flow fixes for access centers. Staff explained that part of the problem is the county reimbursement model for measure funds, which can leave the city without available cash early in the fiscal year; they outlined options to "recycle" incoming reimbursements more quickly and to negotiate different timing with the county.

What to watch: providers urged immediate action to prevent program closures: the committee directed staff to return with written recommendations and timelines at the April 15 meeting, and public commenters asked for meetings in their districts with staff to discuss local impacts.

Representative quotes:
"If providers cannot keep centers open, people will lose access to basic needs and crisis response," said Megan Hermia.

The committee did not adopt new emergency funding in this meeting; rather, it approved several consent items and directed staff to work with county partners and return with more concrete financial timelines and audits.