Saundra Macpherson had been waiting for a medical visit — a follow-up for dental issues she hoped to get checked out.

While she waited, she turned on the hose, rinsing dust off of some bedding and pillows on the sidewalk outside her camper on Branford Street in Pacoima. Inside, her younger sister, a disabled Navy veteran with an honorable discharge, lay resting alongside their five Wheaten Terriers, all trying to escape the worst of the midday heat.

Macpherson, 53, has been homeless in the San Fernando Valley for three years. She has an associate degree in business administration and once worked in in-home care until a client died and the work dried up. She never recovered.

“We’re out of hope here,” she said. “I don’t like living like this, but I’ve gotten so far down, I can’t get up by myself.”

Macpherson is one of many unhoused residents who may soon face even deeper uncertainty.

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Keith Ulrich, 68, who lost his home six years ago, is living in a trailer in Pacoima and says he hopes to one day move to his family’s 80 acre ranch in Montana on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. Los Angeles County homeless service agencies are warning of deep funding cuts in reducing homelessness. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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On Sept. 11, six of Los Angeles County’s largest homeless service providers— Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System, LA Family Housing, The People Concern, PATH, St. Joseph’s Center, and Union Station Homeless Services — released a joint report warning that deep funding cuts at the local, state and federal levels could unravel recent progress in reducing homelessness.

The report paints a grim picture: rental subsidies are drying up, outreach teams are shrinking, and families are being turned away from shelters already at capacity. Without continued support, providers say, thousands could be left without access to basic services — even as the City of Los Angeles marks a second straight year of declining street homelessness.

The report was released just days before the Los Angeles City Council voted to explore shifting its legally allowable homelessness funding away from LAHSA — the regional agency that manages the joint city-county response — and instead contracting directly with the county’s new Department of Homelessness.

While some providers said the move could streamline services over the long term, others warned that any bureaucratic shift — especially amid funding shortfalls — could add disruption at a precarious time.

“I feel very confident saying that we’re going to see an increase in homelessness in the coming years,” said Katie Hill, CEO of Union Station Homeless Services, San Gabriel Valley’s largest provider.

She said the most severe consequences may begin to emerge early next year, when key funding sources are expected to expire. For now, existing programs are still keeping many people housed. But come January, Hill warned, those without a stable plan or backup options could begin falling through the cracks — and the full impact may not be visible until the next wave of evictions.

The effects are already being felt internally, Hill said, as the agency braces for further reductions. “ I just told my team today, we’re on a hiring freeze because I don’t want us to be in the position of bringing anybody else on while these programs are moving,” she said.

Union Station Homeless Service’s budget has already dropped from $45 million last year to $38 million this year. Next year, Hill said, it could fall below $30 million.

While Hill’s agency is bracing for further cuts, others are already feeling the squeeze.

Jennifer Hark Dietz, CEO of PATH— one of the largest homeless services providers in California — said her organization lost about 25% of its Los Angeles funding last year and expects further reductions ahead.

The most immediate impact, she said, is on time-limited subsidy programs, also known as rapid rehousing — which are designed to help households exit homelessness quickly by covering rent and services for a limited period.

“ Because of the funding cuts we’re unable to serve really any new participants,” Dietz said. “ We’re not able to provide families with that conduit from interim housing resource to permanent housing resource. So we’re turning people away.”

John Maceri, CEO of The People Concern, one of Los Angeles County’s largest social services agencies, said the entire system is beginning to seize up.

“We are at risk of losing momentum,” Maceri said. “Homelessness is something that responds well to strategic, smart investments over time. And the reductions in street homelessness we’ve seen year-over-year in the last two years is the direct result of the investments that have been made into bringing people indoors and to keeping them indoors. Now we’re venturing down a path which is going to undo that good work.”

For Macpherson, that path is already starting to feel narrower. She said programs like Hope the Mission provided basic support that helped her survive — access to showers, hygiene supplies, clean clothes and even a storage bin.

She’s been waiting for permanent housing for more than a year — and now fears her chance may be slipping away.

“They sign you up. They said it takes about a year or two for you to get somewhere to stay or whatever,” she said. “I just wish that it didn’t take so long to get housed because we’re out of hope here.”

Yannick Angomasi, 40, who had been staying at a tiny home village for three months, said he was removed after a verbal altercation with another resident. He’s since been trying to return.

“ I went back over, I talked to one of my case workers, and they gave me a referral, trying to see if I could get somebody else trying to help me out,” he said.

But that’s been difficult, Angomasi said, because he doesn’t have a cell phone to keep track of follow-ups or communication.

Keith Ulrich, 68, has been homeless since 2017. He hopes to one day move back to his family’s 80-acre ranch in Montana — but he says he’s staying in Los Angeles for now to help care for his girlfriend, who needs double hip replacement surgery.

Ulrich receives $1,500 a month in Social Security and says he’s able to get by — for now. “Everywhere you look, there’s people out there that need it way more than I do,” he said. “I’m a survivor. I don’t let nothing get me down.”

While service providers warn of an impending crisis, and residents like Macpherson and Angomasi brace for deeper uncertainty, city leaders say they remain committed to sustaining recent progress.

Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson agreed with the report’s assessment that Los Angeles has made recent progress in reducing homelessness and said the council remains committed to building on recent progress.

“I agree with the report outlining the momentum our city has had in reducing homelessness, much can be attributed to Measure HHH housing coming online and Inside Safe,” he said in a statement Friday. “The city is still dedicated to investing in housing our neighbors.”

He said the council’s recent vote to explore shifting funding away from LAHSA is part of a broader effort to evaluate what’s possible and prudent “to continue to fund our efforts to end homelessness with the possibility of creating working systems that can meet the magnitude of the issue.”

But on the front lines, some service providers worry the momentum is slipping — and that morale is slipping with it.

“There’s so much fear in the unhoused community right now,” said Rowan Vansleve, president of Hope the Mission, one of the San Fernando Valley’s largest shelter and outreach providers.

He added: “ Those on the street waiting to get shelter, they’re going to lose hope and you’ll see an increase in mental health and addiction. And those who are already in shelter, as they see that transition to permanent housing not happening, they’re going to lose hope. So on both fronts, it’s very heartbreaking.”

Photographer Sarah Reingewirtz contributed to this report