MacArthur Park Aid Workers Say Drug Raids Push Users Out of Reach

A Westlake housing provider says enforcement keeps clients out of the park, so some miss homes they'd already done the paperwork for.

Aurora Morales spotted the man behind his wheelchair, bent double with his head almost touching the pavement, in an alley off Alvarado Street a short walk from MacArthur Park.

Her Homeless Health Care L.A. overdose team gave him oxygen and left him with naloxone. He said his name was Sal, and "I'm just getting started, man!" he told LAist, which reported Friday on the people working the Westlake park every day. By the team's account, that was a slow day.

The work isn't letting up. Los Angeles Fire Department figures shared with LAist show emergency medical calls around the park dropped 10% in 2025 from a year earlier. Overdose calls barely moved, down about 2%.

Providers told LAist the bigger problem now is enforcement. In June, the drug sweeps around the park turned from targeting dealers to targeting users, and several providers said users have since retreated deeper into alleys, where nobody's around to reverse an overdose. Jennifer Haid, who runs the nonprofit HumanKind LA across the street, said the raids have made the work "infinitely more difficult" and that most of her clients now steer clear of the neighborhood. That includes people who'd already done the paperwork for housing.

"Finally, something has come to fruition," Haid told LAist, "and they can't be here to get it."

Anyone in crisis can dial 988 to reach the Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which also runs an online chat.

Source: LAist, retrieved October 30, 2026.