City Names Homeless Czar

Wasting no time after council approved the position, City Manager John Nachbar has named Helen Chin as the new Assistant to the City Manager on Homelessness. This newly-created role within the City will primarily focus on developing, coordinating and supporting the City's efforts to address the local and regional homelessness crisis. The position will work in the City Manager's Office to coordinate the City's interdepartmental initiatives and programs, lead community discussions related to homelessness and establish relationships with community-based organizations, regional partners and residential and business stakeholders to address the impacts related to homelessness. Ms. Chin will transition to her new position in the City Manager's Office in early March.

Ms. Chin began working with the UCLA Mobile Clinic Project in 2003 as a direct service provider to homeless communities and also served as a housing coordinator for Step Up on Second in Santa Monica for two years. She then spent close to 10 years in public health research at the RAND Corporation, working on projects to better understand and improve health outcomes for marginalized and vulnerable communities experiencing homelessness, including those facing substance use and mental health issues. Since 2016, she has worked in the Culver City Public Works Department in support of the City's environmental sustainability, energy efficiency and racial equity programs and efforts.

As a resident of the City of Los Angeles, Ms. Chin has participated in the Mar Vista Community Council's Homeless Issues Committee and continues to work closely with community organizations tackling issues of sustainability, affordable housing and homelessness in an effort to create more equitable and just outcomes for all. She ecstatically devotes her career to the service of others through deep community engagement and partnership and will pursue this new role with persistence, patience, an open mind and a committed heart.

Ms. Chin received a Master's Degree in Urban Sustainability from Antioch University Los Angeles, with a focus on community-based participatory research, as well as received her Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a major in Organismic Biology Evolution and Ecology, with a minor in Political Science.

The public can learn more about Culver City's homelessness programs on the City's Addressing Homelessness webpage at http://www.culvercity.org/Home/Components/Topic/Topic/811/925