Open Letter to LA Housing Authority and HOPICS
Dear city, county, state, and agency leadership,
Mr. Marques Jones started out with HOPICS’ Housing for Health program, where through the Housing Authority (HACLA), he was able to obtain a Section 8 housing voucher. After a dispute with his most recent landlord, he fought an eviction on his own with the help of Legal Aid. He updated HOPICS throughout the process.
When he found out he had to move, he advised HOPICS and HACLA and was told that he had not recertified his voucher status in the last two years. If that was the case, wouldn’t he have been terminated from the program? It has been exposed that HOPICS has failed its clients on multiple occasions. Mr. Jones fell victim to the high turnover of caseworkers, who failed to assist in recertifying his Section 8 voucher. Someone in this process dropped the ball on the side of HOPICS, and Mr. Jones is being blamed and is the victim of this.
In the meantime, Mr. Jones had to move his belongings into storage, and the last four months have been spent in motel rooms and his vehicle while he waits for HACLA to decide when he will no longer be homeless.
Upon Mr. Jones regularly checking in and requesting that HOPICS fight for him and his family to get his voucher to move, especially since it was obvious that they had neglected his case, HOPICS responded by terminating him from the program.
The Housing Authority then sent an inspector to inspect the property that he no longer lived in, and this was told to the inspector by Mr. Jones as well as his mother Connie Casey-Holt. The inspector notated that Mr. Jones wasn’t available for the inspection and HACLA proceeded to drop him as well.
He was just recently transitioned to a “Tiny House.” There is a “Tiny Village” of tiny houses run by the Salvation Army and funded by the City of Los Angeles. His description of it is a “Concentration Camp.” They don’t have their own bathrooms. There are “Porta Potties,” or an ADA (American Disabilities Act) bathroom that you need to get a note from your doctor to use. There is one microwave for 80 people.
It doesn’t make sense that Mr. Jones remains homeless due to a paperwork issue. He speaks up for himself, firmly and loudly, and is retaliated against. Retaliation should not be allowed in a situation where a case manager or a supervisor can stall paperwork that determines the housing of an individual or a family in this case. When he speaks out, for himself or others (who are too afraid to for themselves) he is labeled a troublemaker. Yet, he is the voice for the voiceless.
We are requesting assistance from anyone who reads this to assist in any way in expediting Mr. Jones receiving his new voucher so that he can find a new home for him and his family. Please read this article that details HOPICS’ failures to their clients.
