Matt Tinoco, KPCC

A California pilot program aims to provide housing for vulnerable homeless people and saves taxpayer money. A RAND analysis found that for every dollar Los Angeles County invested in the program, it saved $1.20 in reduced health care and social service costs.

Homeless people who live outdoors die, on average, three decades earlier. In California locales, "street medicine" teams are trying to improve those odds.

As inequality increases and encampments sprout in virtually every city statewide, some Californians are taking it upon themselves to address the pressing needs of homeless people in their neighborhoods—doing the work they think government should be doing, but isn’t.