When Santa Monica business owner John Alle was attacked in September 2023 by a homeless man in Pacific Palisades Park, he was there to document the city’s homelessness crisis. Alle’s jaw was broken and his phone stolen.
Nearly two years later, the homelessness crisis remains. But now Alle and fellow business owners in the Los Angeles County city have taken the problem into their own hands, launching in June a voluntary family reunification program through the Santa Monica Coalition, a group of residents, business owners, and locals who organized to address the city’s homelessness and rising crime. Alle is a cofounder of Safe Cities at the Santa Monica Coalition.
