Image of California license plate inscribed with a shortened version of the word ‘Gentrified’ delivers stark message on latest L.A. area billboards, part of an ongoing public awareness campaign on L.A.’s homeless epidemic and the role gentrification plays in it and in overall housing affordability.
‘GNTRIFIED’ campaign follows June billboards warning ‘Homelessness Kills’ and ‘Gentrification Sucks.’
LOS ANGELES (September 7, 2019) Housing justice advocates from AHF this week launched ‘GNTRIFIED’ the group’s latest L.A. area billboard campaign and message in its ongoing public awareness campaign intended to spotlight inaction on the housing crisis in the region and the role gentrification plays in the spiraling homeless epidemic in Los Angeles and across the nation.
The new billboard, an image of a California license plate inscribed with a shortened version of the word ‘Gentrified,’ delivers a stark message as part of AHF’s ongoing homeless/gentrification/housing affordability public awareness campaigns. The billboard image also includes the URL for the website www.gentrificationsucks.org for more information.
While raising general awareness in L.A. about inaction on the housing affordability crisis, the ‘GNTRIFIED’ billboards are also intended to embarrass and shame Los Angeles city and county officials and property developers who disproportionately plan, greenlight and build luxury housing developments, upending housing affordability for vast segments of the population of Southern California.
“The approval and construction of so many luxury developments fuel the rapid gentrification of neighborhoods throughout L.A., often at great human expense. Many developers raze existing rent-stabilized or rent-controlled housing units—and in the process, displace hundreds of low- and moderate-income tenants each year,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AHF. Our elected officials, planning commissioners and even developers must put a stop to greenlighting so much luxury development.”
Previous AHF Billboards on Homelessness and Gentrification
The ‘GNTRIFIED’ billboard campaign, undertaken in conjunction with two AHF affiliate organizations: Housing Is A Human Right (HHR) and the Healthy Housing Foundation (HHF), will appear on 15-20 billboards and 100 bus bench ads throughout greater Los Angeles beginning this week.
The ‘GNTRIFIED’ billboard campaign follows earlier, similar homeless and gentrification billboard and awareness campaigns posted by AHF over the last two years throughout Los Angeles including: ‘Homelessness Kills’ and ‘Gentrification Sucks’ (June2019); ‘Do We Care?’ (English & Spanish May 2018); ‘Homeless’ (February 2018, modeled on the ’Hollywood’ sign)
The Los Angeles Times, which has been aggressively covering the homeless and housing affordability crises in both its news and editorial content, reported Thursday (9/05/19) that “On average, nearly three homeless people are dying daily in the county.”
‘Healthy Housing Foundation’ In late 2017, AHF launched the ‘Healthy Housing Foundation’ as part of a community-based effort to address the exploding housing and homelessness crisis in Los Angeles. Since then, AHF has purchased and repurposed several older un- or under-occupied SRO (single-room-occupancy) hotels and a motel in Hollywood and now has nearly 600 rooms or housing units for extremely-low-income and formerly homeless individuals.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 1.2 million individuals in 43 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us @aidshealthcare.
