Part 2 of the Democrat Fraud Grifting Machine
By James Bradley and Flor Blanco
April 13, 2026, LAGUNA HILLS, CALIFORNIA—The growing homeless crisis in California isn’t a symptom of a broken system. Instead, investigations point to a social welfare machine deliberately built to keep the crisis going so the money never stops flowing to the same nonprofits, contractors, and executives. Los Angeles and California have poured over $13 billion into homelessness programs in LA since 2016 through Measure H, Prop HHH, and annual budgets plus $24 billion statewide since 2019. Yet the streets still overflow with tents and human misery. The real goal isn’t solving homelessness it’s perpetuating it.
The Numbers Are Rigged to Show Progress That Isn’t There
LAHSA’s finalized 2025 count claims 43,695 homeless in the City of Los Angeles and 72,195 countywide tiny drops of 3–4%. Mayor Karen Bass has repeatedly touted these numbers as proof her programs are working.
Other data, conflicts with LAHSA’s report, suggesting Bass’s accolades are mere propaganda. A RAND study proves LAHSA’s volunteer counts are now missing 32% of unsheltered people in Hollywood, Venice, and Skid Row compared to professional counters a sharp worsening from near-perfect alignment in 2022–2023. Skid Row is the worst, capturing just 61% of reality. That undercount hides roughly 8,000 people in the city alone.
Here’s the part they don’t talk about. The miscounts have been going on for a decade. Many homeless people now know exactly who the counters are and when they’re coming. They get tipped off, vacate the area, and go underground to stay off the books. They live undercover hiding from the official count so their names aren’t documented. That’s why the 70,000–80,000 countywide estimate many people on the ground have been using for years is far more accurate than LAHSA’s official number.
Governor Newsom’s Optics Game
Governor Gavin Newsom showed exactly how this works in 2023. Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to San Francisco for the APEC summit, the streets were suddenly scrubbed clean, encampments cleared, and tents removed. The city was made to look presentable for international cameras. Newsom openly admitted it was for the fancy leaders coming to town. Once the dignitaries left, the mess returned.
Same playbook happens in LA. Temporary sweeps are done for optics and favorable counts, while the underlying crisis and the funding rolls on. California likes to call itself the Golden State. With these numbers and this approach, it’s looking more like a failing one.
The Big Contractors That Keep Winning
Records indicate a small club of repeat players dominate LAHD and LAHSA contracts, including:
- SRO Housing Corporation 2,600+ units, mostly SROs in Skid Row and downtown. CEO Anita Nelson.
- A Community of Friends (ACOF) 2,403 units. CEO Dora Leong Gallo.
- Abode Communities over 4,500 homes developed. CEO Holly Benson.
- East LA Community Corporation (ELACC) about 1,000 units.
These same groups win contract after contract. Together they barely touch the real scale of the problem. Their business model seemingly depends on homelessness never being solved.
Comfortable Salaries While the Streets Stay
Other records list executives in this ecosystem do very well, seemingly offering stable six-figure paychecks for managing a crisis that never meaningfully shrinks.
- Anita Nelson (SRO): around $492,000 total compensation.
- Dora Leong Gallo (ACOF): $300,000+.
- Holly Benson (Abode): $400,000+.
- LAHSA’s former CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum: $491,908 total in 2024.
Sky-high costs, deliberately weak oversight result in billions down the drain. New permanent supportive housing in LA costs $500,000 to $700,000+ per unit driven by land prices, CEQA lawsuits, prevailing wages, and regulations. Audits show the lack of oversight is intentional. A court-ordered Alvarez & Marsal audit of over $2.3 billion in spending found fragmented data, no reliable way to verify services were delivered, and invoices paid without checking compliance. Federal Judge David O. Carter, who ordered the audit, called the operation a train wreck. LAHSA issued $50.8 million in cash advances with almost no repayment tracking. The agency has failed audits for nearly 20 years.
Recent Scandals and Fraud Arrests
In January 2026, federal authorities arrested Alexander Soofer, executive director of Abundant Blessings, for allegedly defrauding LAHSA and related programs of $23 million. He’s accused of using the money for a $7 million Westwood house, a $125,000 Range Rover, private school tuition, private jet travel, and luxury resorts. This is part of a broader federal task force investigating fraud in California homelessness spending, with more than two dozen investigations still ongoing.
Political Ties and Conflicts
Several top executives and board members at major LA homelessness nonprofits have donated to local politicians who control the funding. The clearest family-financial overlap is at LAHSA itself. Former CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum signed at least $2.1 million in contracts with Upward Bound House, a Santa Monica nonprofit where her husband, Edward Kellum, serves as director of operations and compliance. She had said she was recused from anything involving them, but public records show her signature on the contracts. An outside review later cleared her of misconduct, but the arrangement raised serious questions about oversight when taxpayer dollars go straight to an executive’s spouse. Beyond that, the usual pattern holds. Campaign contributions from NGO leaders are allegedly made to council members and supervisors. Plus, there exists a revolving door between government offices and the nonprofits that depend on their budgets.
The Politicians Touting Success and the Election-Year
Cash spigot Mayor Karen Bass has made homelessness her signature issue, declaring an emergency on day one and celebrating every official drop. City Council members like Nithya Raman and Ysabel Jurado have backed the big spending measures and recent contract approvals. Just days ago, Bass and Jurado pushed for another $360 million in contracts for affordable housing in classic election-cycle headlines promising action while feeding the same machine. Since Prop HHH ($1.2 billion bond in 2016) and Measure H (county sales tax generating billions since 2017), politicians have used these massive funding announcements to claim they’re doing something. Alleged ties between contractors, developers, and political campaigns have surfaced in scandals, with campaign contributions from players in the system often coinciding with big contract wins.
This is the California and Los Angeles homeless industrial complex in plain sight seemingly doing these actions to recycle cash flows. Deliberate undercounts of the problem to fake progress. Overpayments for housing that barely moves the needle. Keep the same contractors and executives comfortable. Maintain weak oversight by design. Last, but not least, flood the zone with new billions every campaign season.
The machine isn’t failing the homeless. It’s succeeding at perpetuating itself on the taxpayer’s dime.
Citations:
- RAND Study (32% undercount in 2025, Skid Row at 61%) : rand.org
- LAHSA Official 2025 PIT Count (43,695 City / 72,195 County) : lahsa.org
- Alvarez & Marsal Audit ($2.3B review for Judge David Carter) : cacd.uscourts.gov
- Judge David O. Carter’s Comments : latimes.com
- Alexander Soofer / Abundant Blessings Fraud Arrest ($23 million) : justice.gov
- California Statewide Spending ($24 billion since 2019) : hoover.org