Los Angeles City Council members along with Mayor Eric Garcetti introduced the $100 million proposal that will promote shelters and permanent housing for those in need on Sept. 22.

First, it will be brought up to the entire City Council and needs to be approved by unanimous vote. If approved, the first distribution will not be granted until January.

This plan comes after the city has failed to accommodate the multiplying number of homeless Angelenos that has risen by 12% and has reached a pinnacle of over 25,000 people according to a population tally taken by LAHSA (Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority).

The issue of homelessness is not something new, yet has been over looked for years.

It has been treated like putting a band aid on a bullet hole, but when the Los Angeles City Council declares the city in an emergency, it now becomes an undeniable truth.

Many homeless advocates have criticized city leaders for their way of dealing with the homeless crisis.

Such as passing new laws that prohibit homeless encampments on sidewalks.

There is a group of advocates that is not taking this issue sitting down, Armando Olvera founder of Shower of Blessings, a non profit organization along with other volunteers are not waiting on the city or the state to make a difference.

Armando Olvera and The Showers of Blessings have gone above and beyond to bring hope as they feed, clothe, and, most recently now, shower the homeless every Saturday morning in Santa Ana for the past five years. He started out as a volunteer, going out with his local church taking food and clothing, as a plumber by trade he saw the hygienic need and transformed a trailer into a portable shower equipped with a water heater and two hundred gallons of water. Now there are more than 60 homeless people taking hot showers every Saturday.

On Oct. 3, Shower of Blessings teamed up with Pastor David Diaz and New Beginning Community Ministry of Baldwin Park to share a message of hope to those who are hurting, broken and lost.

Among the volunteers was Joseph Duran, who at one point was on the other side of the spectrum, and was given hope through the resources offered by Shower of Blessings and is now a Human Services Major at Rio Hondo,”I know exactly how those people feel, a sense of hopelessness, like there’s no way out, as if no one cares. I was offered a second chance, and a seed of  hope was planted when Shower of Blessings showed up in Baldwin Park. These people didn’t know me, they didn’t owe me anything, yet they were there and there was something different about them, they really cared. So today, I’m here to give back, I can look at these people in the eyes and share my story with them. There is hope, there is a way out, I never thought I’d be in collage and today I know without a shadow of a doubt that with God, all things are possible!”