California has lost $24 Billion in funding to end homelessness. The audit which was supposed to determine where the flaws in spending were, has published that the bookkeeping just wasn't done correctly or at all. The audit contains sophisticated stick figure comics and racial demographics of affected individuals.
Previously, The California’s Statewide Hotels-to-Housing Initiative successfully opened doors to homeless Californians in Los Angeles County at about the rate of $130,000.00 per door. In addition to the Homekey+ awards, California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) also awarded the final two projects from Round 3 of the Homekey program, which is the predecessor for Homekey+.
The final two Homekey awards are: $25,740,000.00 awarded to the County of Santa Clara, in partnership
with LifeMoves, for the new construction of 90 interim housing units to serve
people experiencing homelessness. $5,826,222.00 awarded to the County of San Bernardino, in partnership with the Family Assistance
Program, for the new construction of 22 interim housing units to serve young adults experiencing or at
risk of homelessness such as those exiting foster care or the probation system.
Although the city of San Diego tracked data and set some expectations around the frequency with which
Clean SD would provide services, it did not develop performance measures for evaluating the program’s
effectiveness, such as a reduction in public health incidents arising from encampments.
Aside from the success of having a Not-For-Profit Organization right near the Governor's Office offering crackpipes; California Governor Gavin Newsom (Call: 916-445-2841) whom was previously in the news for publicly breaking his own quarantine, has invested over $24 bfillion in initiatives to end homelessness, focusing on expanding affordable housing, converting hotels, and clearing encampments.
Key programs include the $8.75 billion Homekey Program for creating permanent housing,
Project Roomkey
for emergency pandemic shelter, and the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) grant
program. Gross misspending and unaccountability has left this circumstance in what appears to be
something right out of Season 3 of the HBO television program 'The Wire'; but unlike the Barksdale
Organization, these suspects do keep meticulous notes on criminal conspiracies.
In a June 7 article, the Los Angeles Times reports on non-profit organizations who “were awarded more than $114 million in Homekey funds to convert seven motels in San Bernardino, Ventura and Monterey counties into studio apartments for formerly homeless tenants.” Instead of housing hundreds of people, “most sit empty and unfinished.” The projects also face foreclosure and accusations of financial impropriety. In response, Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a civil lawsuit. At least one, Shangri-La Industries LLC has been criminally charged with fraud.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California says, money intended to end homelessness in California has been outright stolen. Homelessness in California has grown more than 20% since Homekey according to the Public Policy Institute of California. Perhaps to suppress comparison, Governor Newsom has blocked future funding for ending homelessness in The State of California.
In 2024, The City of Long Beach awarded First To Serve Inc. an undisclosed amount after four bidders bid a total zero ($0.00) for Bid #HE-23-326 'Project Homekey Interim Housing.' First To Serve Inc. is a Not-For-Profit with a critically low public rating; "focused on providing transitional housing, medical, and supportive services to homeless men, women and children in South Los Angeles."
First To Serve Inc. operates three programs in the city of Long Beach
1017 West 50th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90037
Call: 323-758-4670
In 2015 First To Serve Inc. contributions were $2,592,898.00 and in 2016 they were $3,732,673.00. In 2023 those contirbutions and grants had jumped to $27,314,831.00 and in 2024 they contirbutions and grants were reported at $31,431,066.00. This Not-For-Profit, appears to be acting as a holding company, their major assest is zoned Code: 3100 (Light Manufacturing), Industrial property at 375 N. First Street, Burbank, CA 91502 valued at $22,786,000.00 during 2025.
First Street Village (Call: 818-726-3000) is a First Class Living mixed-use residential-commercial project in Downtown Burbank. Located at First Street between Magnolia Boulevard and Olive Avenue, the project includes ± 275 apartments and ± 18,876 square-feet of retail/restaurant and commercial space. The City Council approved this project June 13, 2017. The original project was to include 14 “micro” units (approximately 387-460 square feet in size) to be rented to income-eligible households that meet maximum occupancy standards. The first phase of the initial development was to include 6 micro units. First Street Village's central location in the heart of Burbank provides easy access to the 5, 134 and 101 Freeways. First Street Village has the highest quality luxury living available.
With rooftop patios, spacious floorplans, and upscale finishes First Street Village is a
source of enduring, luxurious comfort:First To Serve Inc. currently owns seven residential homes on First Street and E. First Street Los Angeles, CA. Most of those houses have their parcels DELETED and all but one (AIN: 5233014040) have No Payment History Available Online for SECURED (REAL) PROPERTY TAX PAYMENT HISTORY and No Tax Bill available, either. Properties such as these could be re-parceled into a larger real estate parcel in order to be laundered within this network, augmented from market rate. To dive deeper into this, we will need to FOIA the Black Log (from www.lavote.gov) of real estate transactions, of and for all of those awarded HCD funding.
Some properties owned by First To Serve Inc., such as AIN: 5773017090 and AIN: 5773017090 both addresses: 130 S FIRST AVE, ARCADIA, CA 91006-0000 have irregular tax records. One property owned by First To Serve Inc., 369 E FIRST ST LOS ANGELES, CA (AIN: 5161012904) valued at a $998,000.00 in 1975, returns Assessor's ID Number 5161012904 not found at the LA County Treasurer and Tax Collector, because it is a Tax Exempt Government Owned Parcel!
Resources:
https://firsttoserve.org/
https://firststreetvillage.com/
https://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2023-102-2/
https://www.counties.org/news-and-media-article/projects-in-5-counties-to-receive-first-homekey-awards/
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/california-homelessness-spending-audit-24b-five-years-didnt-consistently-track-outcomes/
https://www.newsbreak.com/new-york-post-509648/4544833671691-nonprofit-near-gavin-newsom-s-office-provides-crack-pipes-video-shows
https://www.pacificresearch.org/flawed-project-homekey-now-immersed-in-scandal/
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-07/homeless-services-provider-received-funds-from-disgraced-developer-meant-for-housing
https://www.fairfieldsuntimes.com/news/investigative_reports/california-newsoms-national-model-for-homeless-wracked-by-fraud/article_2c2eaebe-143c-535c-a687-2943c7845c56.html
https://www.burbankca.gov/web/community-development/first-street-village
https://www.ppic.org/blog/californians-concern-about-homelessness-has-softened/
https://hoodline.com/2025/07/california-s-homekey-program-awards-102-9m-for-supportive-housing-and-behavioral-health-facilities/
https://portal.assessor.lacounty.gov
https://www.hcd.ca.gov/about-hcd/newsroom/hkplus-0326
https://ttc.lacounty.gov/request-duplicate-bill/
https://www.propertytax.lacounty.gov/
https://www.hcd.ca.gov/funding/homekey/funding-overview
https://www.hcd.ca.gov/funding/homekey/awards
https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/beverly-hills-man-arrested-brentwood-man-charged-in-separate-criminal-cases-linked-to-fraud-in-public-homelessness-funds
