Homelessness in LE

City Aims to Find Solutions to Address Homelessness & Help Those in Need

For several years, the City of Lake Elsinore has tackled key issues related to homelessness including feeding in the parks, solicitation, and encampments. But, there is MUCH more to do.

On May 23, 2017, the City Council approved the creation of Homeless Task Force to further the City's efforts to address homelessness. The Homeless Task Force is a working group of key community leaders eager to join the City in its efforts to reduce homelessness in our community.

Key Strategic Objectives:

• Assess our homeless population to identify our needs and a targeted program to provide the support and assistance needed to get these folks off the streets.
• Communication and outreach program to educate residents, businesses, and the community to be a part of the solution.
• Create Community Collaborative to create connections amongst organizations and educate non-profits, faith-based organizations and others about how best to serve and help the homeless.
• Assess existing resources and conduct gap analysis for available local services and programs.
• Review, assess and create best practices for encampment cleanups.
• Review and update existing municipal codes regarding homelessness and solicitation. This includes identifying new municipal codes related to homeless prevention such as Donation Bins, Recycling Centers, etc.
• Develop programs or services by the City to help reduce homelessness such as citations, family reunification, etc.
• Compare and coordinate with other cities to ensure consistent efforts across boundaries.
• Clarify the city's role and policies that can assist with homelessness in the long term, including development standards, affordable housing policies and regional efforts.
• Begin to create a local Housing Crisis and Response Team that aligns with the principles of Housing First.

Unfortunately, homelessness is a problem plaguing all communities across Southern California. While the City has been aggressively cleaning up encampments to put pressure on them to move on or get help, we need the community's and businesses' help.

One way you can help is by practicing Responsible Compassion (more information on this page) and give a hand up not a handout. This is a practice many other cities are adopting the encourages the community to help not hurt the homeless by truly making a difference for them rather than enabling them to continue to live on the streets.

Recent Successes

• Critical Funding Secured- In March 2019, the City of Lake Elsinore in partnership with the City of Wildomar and District 1, Supervisor Kevin Jeffries' Office was awarded $1.5 million to implement a comprehensive, regional homeless outreach and housing program. Funding is expected to become available in August and will allow the City to greatly expand its recent success and efforts.
  • City Awarded a Professional Services Agreement to Social Work Action Group (SWAG) to proceed with implementing the proposed regional House LE/House Wildomar program. View PowerPoint from Council Meeting (PDF) on September 24, 2019.
  • SWAG is conducting street outreach regularly in the cities of Lake Elsinore, Wildomar and the surrounding county areas.
• Hired a Street Outreach Team, More than 107 Street Exits - In March of 2018, the City began working with the Social Work Action Group (SWAG) to provide street outreach services to our chronic homeless living on our streets. SWAG works partnership with law enforcement and code enforcement as part of our Homeless Outreach Team. In 2019, our Homeless Outreach Team engaged with more than 1,568 homeless individuals and assisted more than 73 individuals off of our streets with 20 of them choosing to return to the streets. See our complete 2019 Statistics.
• Task Force Created - Starting June 2017, 21 local community stakeholders have been meeting every other week to identify short and long-term solutions to address homelessness in our City and help those in need. Members of the Task Force include City Councilmembers Brian Tisdale and Natasha Johnson, City staff, the Police Department, the Chamber of Commerce, Riverside County District 1, Lake Elsinore Unified School District, and several representatives from our non-profit and faith-based community that are eager to help. The taskforce meets regularly.
• Alert LE Reporting Options - The City created a new category for Homeless Concerns on its Alert LE mobile app where the community can report concerns related to municipal code violations occurring in our City including solicitation, illegal camping, and other public safety concerns. Reports using this app will allow the City to identify top problem areas, develop strategic objectives for these areas and better target our efforts as we move forward. So far, the community has responded and is reporting this information regularly and our Code Enforcement is responding appropriately when they can. Not all issues will be responded to immediately, but this reporting provides critical data about what and where concerns are taking place. You can download Alert LE in your mobile app store or you can report online.
• Public Outreach - The City developed several informational materials to promote Responsible Compassion to our community. See below. Next, the City is working with the task force and our local Chamber of Commerce to create an informational packet of resources for our business community including signage for refusing service, no loitering or lingering and/or no panhandling.
• Homeless Assessment Tool - The City created a tool to assess our homeless population and the barriers preventing them from ending homelessness. This information will be critical for the City to find and implement the right programs and services to effectively help those in need.
• Homeless Outreach Community Coalition- The City hosted its first Homeless Outreach Community Coalition meeting on November 2, 2017. This coalition is an educational and collaborative effort to assess and address the resources the City has, wants and needs to help those in need. From this, the City will create a list of available services and resources for those in need including housing, shelter, food, water, medical, veterans and much more. This list will be made available to the public once completed. Those that serve our community will be asked to join the City's Community Collaborative that will meet regularly to coordinate the help and resources available in Lake Elsinore.
  • November 2, 2017 Meeting Materials:
    • November 2, 2017 Presentation (PDF)
    • Community Asset Assessment Survey Results.
  • February 8, 2018 Meeting Materials:
    • February 8, 2018 Presentation (PDF)
    • Survey regarding Barriers to Helping Homeless (PDF) - How Others Overcome These Barriers
  • May 3, 2018 Meeting Materials:
    • SWAG Lecture Series Presents... Jeff Van-Vonderen: Substance Abuse, Mental Illness and Homelessness (Video of May 3 Meeting)
  • April 17, 2019 Meeting Materials:
    • Community Outreach Update Meeting
      • April 17, 2019 Presentation (PDF)
      • Video of April 17 Meeting
  • August 19, 2021 Meeting Materials:
    • Addressing Homeless Community Meeting
      • August 19, 2021 Presentation (PDF)
      • Video of August 19 Meeting
      • SWAG PowerPoint (PDF)
      • Sheriff PowerPoint (PDF)
      • Riverside University Health Systems-Behavioral Health PowerPoint (PDF)
  • Upcoming Meetings: If you would like to be included on our email list, please email the Homeless Outreach Community Coalition.
• Lake Elsinore Sheriff Department Changes - The Lake Elsinore Police Department has designated a team to deal with Quality of Life Issues 7 days a week. This team will be proactive in doing business and park checks, contacting the transient community to offer help or enforce any violations of law, panhandling issues, vandalism, etc., and responding to the calls for service associated with these types of issues. Currently, we have an entire team focused on quality-of-life issues including homelessness.
• Hepatitis A Information - Based on recent concerns about Hepatitis A related to homelessness, the County of Riverside has created a Frequently Asked Questions Document (PDF) to address these concerns.
• Speakers Bureau - The City has developed a basic PowerPoint presentation that can be shared with local community members upon request. Help the City spread awareness about our efforts and what our community can do to help by hosting a special presentation for your organization. If interested, email Adam Gufarott.
• Addressing Homelessness for Businesses - Protecting Your Business
  • Businesses Powerpoint (PDF)
  • Businesses Video Recording
  • 602 No Trespassing Letter (PDF) - Every business in the City should complete a 602 letter every year to better protect your property, your business and your employees.
  • Panhandling Poster for Businesses (PDF) - Businesses in Lake Elsinore and Wildomar are encouraged to support the region's efforts by printing and posting these posters in their businesses. The City is also printing large quantities, which should be available soon for distribution to our business community.
  • Find out more about crime prevention at your business.
• Commercial Landlords / Property Owners / Property Managers - On Thursday, March 12, 2020, the City hosted a special workshop to teach our business partners the steps they can take to protect their properties and employees from homelessness-related issues. We heard from Law Enforcement, Code Enforcement, CR&R, and our non-profit partners SWAG (Social Work Action Group).