Supporters of “the Compound”, an encampment in Van Nuys, are still whirling following a sweep last week by Los Angeles officials, LA Sanitation and law enforcement. For years, it was home to more than 75 people living in tents who considered themselves a tight-knit community that helped each other to get by. Now, the Compound is an empty, large concrete slab fenced off and padlocked.
The sweep was part of the city’s Inside Safe Program, an initiative designed to move people off the streets and into homes. Those who lived in the encampment – which was the largest in the San Fernando Valley and was also known as the Compound – were given the option to be taken to one of 30 motel rooms or a shelter elsewhere in the San Fernando Valley.
Some people opted to leave on their own. Nonetheless, those caught up in the sweep were only allowed to take what they could carry, forcing many to leave much of their belongings behind.
Mayor Karen Bass praised the action, describing it as a powerful example of taking action to reduce homelessness and helping unhoused people take their first steps towards permanent housing. But activists on the ground counter that it may have done more harm than good.
Carla Orendorff – an organizer for Aetna Street Solidarity, a community group that organizes against the criminalization of the poor – said that the residents of the Compound have been scattered to at least eight different locations, including Sun Valley, Canoga Park, North Hills and even Highland Park.
Although the people living in the Compound didn’t have housing, Orendorff described how they had a strong sense of community – how people would be there for each other in times of need. But after the sweep, that sense of community is now gone.
“This breaking up of the Compound seems, to me, very intentional,” Orendorff said. “[This feels] like the most fractured scattering [of unhoused people] across the city I’ve personally seen since Inside Safe began.
“It’s been a little bit chaotic,” she continued. “People are just kind of disoriented because they don’t have a lot of things they need. There’s been requests for taking people to get their medication replaced, [recovering] lost IDs and things like that.”
She further explained that after sweeps like this one, rebuilding a community is nearly impossible since living under the Inside Safe program can be restrictive. For instance, people are often not allowed to have guests, which can include their spouse. Orendorff has heard instances of married couples being written up if they try to stay in the same room.
Orendorff called it “enforced isolation” because it felt like trying to build a community was not encouraged. She added that activists have had police called on them by staff when they’ve tried to check up on their friends or deliver holiday cards.
“I don’t agree with this kind of approach where community seems to be viewed as a threat or people’s long-standing relationships are not taken into consideration,” Orendorff said. “These programs aren’t thoughtfully designed for the people who have or are [currently unhoused] in any kind of way. That’s unfortunate because I believe it’s the people who are going into these programs who could offer really helpful suggestions and ideas.”
For instance, advocates have been advocating for years for staff in these programs to be supplied with and trained on how to use Narcan in case of an overdose – something people who have lived in encampments have already learned how to do.
When Orendorff and other advocates asked people who lived in the Compound what it meant to them, everyone replied that they felt safe because they had people looking out for them. This was particularly important, she explained, because more than half of the occupants were women and the encampment was led by women. She stressed how dangerous it can be to live on the sidewalk alone, especially for women, since anything can happen.
Orendorff firmly believes that housing is a human right, that no one is born to live on the streets. In 2023, there were a reported 2,508 deaths among people experiencing homelessness in LA County, equating to approximately seven deaths per day. But she also believes that having a community is essential for healing.
If someone is mentally ill, she explained, they need someone to help look after them rather than be forcibly isolated. She said that she and other advocates have received many calls from people living in these Inside Safe motels about how they feel isolated, lonely and forgotten.
“There’s no shortcut to [building a community],” Orendorff said. “You can’t just break into an encampment and say, ‘We’re going to house you all.’ And I say that very intensely because they really just came in there and told everyone what was going to happen.
“Their actions, time and time again, have proved really traumatic for people, have forced people to lose their property for no reason,” she added. “It’s just cruelty. There’s no reason for people to lose things like shoes or not be able to take hygiene products with them. This is completely unnecessary, but it’s enforced. It’s baked into these programs and there’s no accountability or follow-up.”
As far as Orendorff is aware, there is no word on how long the people now residing in motel rooms after the recent sweep will be allowed to stay there, or when or if they will transition to permanent housing – despite multiple requests for such information.
Although the community within the Compound is now fractured and scattered throughout LA, Orendorff maintains that they were and will always be a family.
“I hope people understand that,” she said. “It helps us to expand what our idea of family is – [it’s] people who have an instinct to care for each other. And when that gets attacked or we’re told they’re dangerous for daring to meet each other’s needs, I think that tells you more about the government that we’re living under rather than the people who are trying to care for each other.”
The place was a stinking trash filled nightmare and eyesore. But it was home, and a community. And the city, thinking they know better, forced people into a prison-like situation they didn’t want,v with many abandoning precious and necessary items, like clothing, medications, IDs…is THIS what it comes down do, Ms. Bass? Numbers in a book to show that you are doing something? What next? Box cars and arm tattoos? You have truly made me regret ever voting for you.