LOS ANGELES – When Sarah Smith decided to leave the man who had verbally and physically abused her for nearly a decade, she knew finding safety wouldn’t be easy.
What she didn’t expect was that one of the biggest obstacles to rebuilding her life wouldn’t be her abuser – it would be a federal funding battle centered on alleged fraud inside Los Angeles’ homelessness system.
With her two children beside her, Smith spent nearly two months bouncing between hotels while searching for somewhere safe to go. She called roughly 20 shelters and service providers, only to hear the same answer over and over again: there were no beds available, and in many cases, not even room on the waiting list…