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HUD Secretary Ben Carson Speaks With L.A. Community Leaders, Tours Women’s Homeless Center on Skid Row

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson toured a homeless women’s center on L.A.’s skid row Tuesday as part of a fact-finding trip to local public-private partnerships and faith-based programs tackling homelessness and job training.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson sits down and speaks with volunteer Denise Smith during his visit to the Downtown Women’s Center on L.A.’s Skid Row on April 24, 2018. (Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Carson, whose agency provided a record $109 million last year to L.A.’s battle with one of the nation’s worst homelessness problems, also met with county and business homelessness leaders and stopped at a faith-based drug treatment residential center in Echo Park.

The Dream Center Foundation visit, which included a sweep through a men’s dorm and discussions with leaders, was closed to the media for logistical reasons, a Carson aide said.

It was Carson’s first trip to skid row, 50 blocks lined with tents and shanties filled largely with African Americans, a sight he said “you cannot forget.”

Read the full story on LATimes.com.

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