It s not ideal, but at ’ least it s a home

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How is it that more than seven months into the pandemic publicly owned houses still sit empty while thousands of families are homeless? That is what is happening in El Sereno, where dozens of houses and apartments owned by state transport agency Caltrans remain vacant despite pleas to sell or let the properties as affordable housing.

Reclaim and Rebuild Our Community activists commandeered nearly 20 houses last week and tried to move homeless families and individuals into them.

The California Highway Patrol ousted the squatters the night before Thanksgiving and arrested dozens of people for trespassing and burglary. The homeless families were offered hotel vouchers.

It was the second time this year that activists have sought to “reclaim” the vacant properties. In March, amid the first shelter-in-place order, the Reclaiming Our Homes group took over a dozen of the Caltrans houses in an act of civil disobedience. They argued it was unconscionable to let so many empty, decaying homes sit idle in a public-health emergency. They’re right.

It shouldn’t take protests and illegal squatters for state agencies to treat the pandemic housing crisis with utmost urgency. Despite spending billions to end homelessness California struggles to put needy families into stable housing, even when public land and property is available. This is why activists sometimes resort to unorthodox and even illegal tactics to push governments agencies to act.

Yes, attempts to “reclaim” Caltrans houses are illegal. The activists are trespassing, claiming public property as their own. But the protests worked. Caltrans and the Los Angeles housing authority agreed to lease 22 properties to the housing authority for up to three years for use as transitional housing for families, including some of the original reclaimers. / Los Angeles, December 1