Skip to Content
Homelessness

Los Angeles Allocates More Than $1.8 Million For Portable Sinks and Toilets At Encampments After Funding Nearly Dried Up

As of July 1, there are 69 toilets and sinks on city sidewalks at 35 different locations, according to the city department that oversees the contract for the units. It's unclear where exactly those locations are though.

2:26 PM PDT on July 14, 2023

photo: Lexis-Olivier Ray

City officials approved more than $1.8 million in funding to keep dozens of portable sinks and toilets that were originally rolled out to encampments during the early pandemic staying on city sidewalks.

This comes after an L.A. TACO report from April revealed that funding for the units was drying up.

Clara Karger, spokesperson for Mayor Bass told L.A. Public Press that:

“There is funding allocated for continued deployment of the portable restrooms and handwashing stations." Karger added that "The Mayor’s Office is working with departments to help ensure that the facilities continue to be deployed and maintained.”

The funding for the toilets and sinks comes from the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) program, a state program giving local jurisdictions the resources to address "immediate homelessness challenges."

In total, the city of Los Angeles was awarded more than 143 million HHAP dollars.

In June, the City Administrative Officer (CAO) recommended that the city spend that money on "ongoing liabilities first and foremost" which include costs for operating temporary city shelters as well as "critical homeless outreach, hygiene, and support services."

The CAO advised the city to allocate more than $1.8 million to fund the portable hygiene stations for a full year. In early June, the city council and Mayor Bass approved the proposal.

As of July 1, there are 69 toilets and sinks on city sidewalks at 35 different locations, according to the city department that oversees the contract for the units. It's unclear where exactly those locations are though.

The units were first rolled out in the hundreds to dozens of encampments during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, long before vaccines to treat the coronavirus were conceived and when hand-washing was one of only a few ways to protect yourself from catching the deadly virus.

At first, there were issues.

A comprehensive map outlining where the units were located didn't exist. And the city failed to assess units to ensure vendors were doing their jobs regularly. Vendors, meanwhile, sometimes failed to service the units despite collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments.

A years-long L.A. TACO investigation found that units went days, weeks, and in some cases, more than a month, without being serviced. The reporting eventually pushed the city to invest more than a million dollars to keep some of the units online, with additional safeguards to ensure the units are better maintained.

Earlier this year, that funding all but ran out, resulting in calls from activists and unhoused residents for the city to invest more in the program.

When maintained, unhoused residents and outreach volunteers say that having access to bathrooms greatly improves the quality of life for unhoused people, in addition to helping ease tensions between business owners and the houseless. When there are no bathrooms, people are more likely to use the sidewalk as a toilet or rely on businesses for access to bathrooms.

Not having easy access to restrooms can lead to health complications (such as urinary tract infections) or exacerbate existing health conditions.

"One of the worst sensory feelings is dirt on your hands," an unhoused person living on the westside told L.A. TACO in March after learning that funding for hygiene stations was approaching zero. "I am having stomach problems and I had to hold in diahrea (sic) for more than 6 hrs today. Public toilets would be amazing."

Already a user?Log in

Thanks for reading!

Register to continue

Become a Member

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from L.A. TACO

Spot Check: Colombian Desgranados In Echo Park, Mexican Wine Festival At Mírate, and Perverted Waffles in DTLA

Plus, a party highlighting pan-African cuisine, a new Taiwanese cookbook by an awarded local from the San Gabriel Valley, and a Little Saigon food festival that starts tonight! Welcome back to Spot Check!

September 22, 2023

This 24-Year-Old Latina Mortician Beautifies the Dead and Influences the Living

Growing up in Arleta with a first-generation family from El Salvador, Berrios admits that her family only embraced her career choice two years ago, after she started to win awards like “Young Funeral Director of the Year.” The 24-year-old works as the licenced funeral director and embalmer at Hollywood Forever cemetery. As a young person born in peak Generation Z, she's documented her deathcare journey on TikTok and has accrued more than 43K followers on the platform. 

September 21, 2023

Meet ‘Carnitas Rogelio,’ The Family-Run Stand With The Best Michoacán-Style Carnitas O.C. Has to Offer

Michoacán-raised Rogelio Gonzalez slices the cuerito (the pig skin) in a checkered pattern to ensure a light crunch in each bite and utilizes every part of the pig, from the feet to the liver and intestines, which he binds together in a braid. 

September 20, 2023

‘The Office’ Star Rainn Wilson Brought Jerk Chicken Tacos to the Picket Lines Outside of Paramount Studios

In three hours, D's Tipsy Tacos and her team passed out “roughly 100 plates” of tacos, burritos, rice, beans, nachos, and quesadillas to striking screenwriters and actors.

September 19, 2023

Five Common Plants to Avoid When Creating Your Green Spaces in L.A.

Almost every time I visit a property with landscaping issues, the problem starts with bad design: the wrong plants in the wrong place. Here's advice from a third-generation L.A. landscaper and noted taco expert.

September 19, 2023
See all posts