Los Angeles invests hundreds of millions each year to alleviate homelessness, but the networks that underlie those efforts are often held together by legal pads and spreadsheets.

It took a person who’s suffered through the system to try to update it, so that the homeless and their advocates can get what they need, when they need it.

Anthony Greco is one of the few people who can say he’s been on most sides of the issue. He’s lived on the streets, dealt with homeless family members and friends, he’s worked in the shelters and counseled people dealing with substance abuse.

“I’ve literally been on every side of this problem in one way or another,” Greco says. “I’ve been trying to get people into treatment in some way or another since I was seven years old.”

The Get Help platform is a result of his lifetime of experience with substance abuse and homelessness. And it’s been so effective that Los Angeles took it from beta to a basic tool in the city’s plan to deal with one of its largest emergencies: Getting homeless people off the street during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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