South L.A. merchants, residents frustrated as homelessness persists

Marina Solano’s grocery store in South Los Angeles enjoys steady business selling freshly made tortillas and a variety of produce like oranges, avocados and tomatoes to the heavily Latino community.

But the continued presence of homeless encampments on the streets surrounding El Mexicano Market has forced Solano to board up her storefront and hire extra security to protect her business, her employees and her customers.

“We are extremely affected by the homeless. Is no one going to help us?” she said. “It seems they have more rights than we do.”

Juan Morales, a security guard at the market, witnessed the problem grow over the last three years he has worked for Solano.

“The homeless have threatened to burn the market,” Morales said. “And they say we can’t do anything about it. The manager has struggled a lot with her business because she needs to pay us to protect this place overnight.”

Marina Solano’s grocery store, El Mexicano Market, sits along the 6600 block of Avalon Boulevard in the neighborhood of Florence.

(Gary Coronado / For The Times)

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass recently lifted the city’s state of emergency on homelessness, noting that the number of unhoused people decreased significantly in the last two years. But for South L.A. merchants and residents, especially in the community of Florence, the city’s efforts have done little to curb the stubborn homelessness problem on their streets.

The homelessness crisis is nothing new to Los Angeles, and efforts over the years to address it have had mixed results. While city officials celebrate successes in clearing homeless encampments in other parts of Los Angeles, resident and merchants in Florence say more needs to be done in their community.

Solano is one of several business owners in Florence who complain that they have been impacted by the “never-ending” presence of homeless encampments. The market and two of Solano’s warehouses are located between Gage and Florence avenues, about a half-mile radius from encampments where multiple unhoused people live in their tents, cars or RVs.

Dana Kanu, 63, who is homeless, shown with her dog Zara at her encampment along the 7000 block of Avalon Boulevard. This encampment stretches from Gage Avenue to Florence Avenue.

(Gary Coronado / For The Times)

The streets are unwalkable and full of trash, and the smell is “unbearable,” residents say.

“I know this doesn’t just affect me. [Homelessness] is spread throughout South L.A., if you go to downtown L.A. they are hidden in between businesses or by the L.A. River. But unfortunately here, they are near homes,” Solano said.

A middle school, public park and bank are all within walking distance of the encampment. But some residents say they don’t feel safe walking to such places, with sidewalk tents encroaching on bus stops, bike lanes and roadways.

“I have lived here for about eight years and it seems they only like [Avalon Boulevard],” a woman, who declined to identify herself, said while she waited for the bus with her two young children. “If you notice, the problem is only between Gage and Florence.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual count by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority estimated that about 41,290 people were considered homeless, with about 30% living in shelters. In 2025, the number of people living on the streets of Los Angeles dropped to 26,972.

Bass said that the emergency declaration “allowed the city the authority to take bold and swift action to upend the failed status quo … resulting in Los Angeles’ first-ever two consecutive years of reduction in homelessness, including a 17% drop in street homelessness.”

City officials say they have also launched targeted efforts to address the homelessness problem in South Los Angeles.

In May, Councilmember Curren Price, whose district includes much of South Los Angeles, teamed up with Bass to launch an Inside Safe operation on Avalon Boulevard that housed 32 people, and of those, seven have returned to the streets, per city figures.

“A key component of Inside Safe is the consistent monitoring of former operation sites to bring even more Angelenos inside if encampments return and to work with partners to connect people to resources that can appropriately meet individual needs,” Bass said in a statement this week.

This program, however, requires homeless people to voluntarily accept services and let go of most of their personal belongings. Since its 2022 inception, Inside Safe has moved more than 5,000 people into interim housing, according to a Times report.

In a statement to NBCLA, Price said that “not everyone is ready to accept services.”

Elihue “Shaba” Pitts Sr., 53, who is homeless, considers himself the community organizer along the 7000 block of Avalon Boulevard.

(Gary Coronado / For The Times)

Homeless residents like Elihue “Shaba” Pitts Sr. find it hard to “just leave,” he said.

Pitts lives on Avalon Boulevard, where he maintains a small garden to memorialize his son Omari Pitts, who was killed in a violent crash from a high-speed police chase in Fontana. During the city’s Cleaning and Rapid Engagement, or CARE operations, Pitts’ belongings, including his potted plants, were removed.

“I start from scratch,” the 53-year-old said. “I have to. This is all I got.”

The last CARE operation on the Avalon corridor took place on Halloween Day, according to Price’s office.

“We try to have a peaceful relationship with the homeless, like giving them food during Thanksgiving and holidays,” Solano said. “But sometimes they want to come and do whatever they want. We just can’t allow that.”

John Maceri, chief executive of The People Concern, an L.A.-based nonprofit social service agency focused on ending homelessness, said unhoused people may initially decline resources but that “relentless outreach” is necessary.

“When someone says ‘no’ today, it doesn’t mean ‘no’ forever,” Maceri said. “It may take weeks, or months in some cases, to get someone to agree to take the next step. Some folks have been let down by the system and they chose a location that feels familiar to them.”

He added that programs like Inside Safe and L.A. County’s Pathway Home “are not just moving people from one side of the street and cleaning up the area.”

“The whole idea is that people are connected to housing and ongoing services, which is a big incentive for people to participate,” Maceri said. “This is a big difference [over] just moving encampments so that the streets and sidewalk are clean.”

City crews have sanitized Gage Avenue and Avalon Boulevard in South Los Angeles more than 20 times just this year, according to Price’s office. But residents say this is not enough.

Sanitation crews remove health and safety hazards and solid waste from the public right-of-way, according to the city’s sanitation and environment department.

Typically, when a clean-up operation is scheduled, unhoused people are notified ahead of time. Once notified, residents say, the homeless neighbors simply move temporarily to nearby residential streets.

A Florence resident who identified herself only as Cindy said she has seen this problem since she first bought her house a year ago.

“It has been a nightmare,” she said. “This has been super stressful. For an entire year, my husband and I cleaned up all this trash. Sure, the city tries to clean up the main streets, but when it comes to the residential ones, they don’t do anything about it.”

Rueben Acosta, 45, who is homeless, washes down the street in front of his motorhome.

(Gary Coronado / For The Times)

According to city street signs, residential streets are scheduled for cleaning on Mondays and Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. But for residents like Cindy, trash pickup is not consistent.

Every week, Cindy and her husband power wash the sidewalk in front of their home and dump the trash they collect into their business’ dumpster. But after a while, “I told my husband no more, this isn’t our job,” she said.

The Bureau of Street Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment as of Friday.

“We’re maintaining coordination with service providers and city departments to ensure follow-up cleanups and pursue long-term solutions that promote stability, safety and dignity for everyone involved,” said Angelina Valencia-Dumarot, a spokesperson for Price’s office. “Additional coordinated operations are planned for early December.”

Some business owners have taken it upon themselves to clean their side of the street, trying to preserve the look of what was once a bustling corridor.

“I’ve been assaulted at gunpoint, and the police said we can’t do anything because they didn’t shoot me,” said one business owner, who declined to give their name due to fear of retaliation. “We are being neglected. Our business has gone down, not only because of what’s happening with immigration, but because of the homeless issue that has been going on for years. The best I can do is not get involved.”