Grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation for Long-Term Support of Residents

/in , , , , /by

We are proud to announce that the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation awarded the Trust a two-year, $400,000 grant to improve our wrap-around supportive services, allowing us to better address the long-term needs of residents who struggle with chronic health conditions. While the security of a permanent home is the first step towards safety, stability and wellness, ongoing access to essential health services is critical to a better quality of life that will last. For instance, the Trust has been developing “aging in place” strategies to help the increasing number of older residents continue living independently for as long as possible, including targeted workshops on depression, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and home safety. With the support of the Hilton Foundation, we will continue working to identify and fill gaps in our outreach, housing, and health services so that we can continue breaking the cycle of homelessness and hospitalization.

The Hilton Foundation was created in 1944 by international business pioneer Conrad N. Hilton, who founded Hilton Hotels and left his fortune to help the world’s disadvantaged and vulnerable people. The Foundation currently conducts strategic initiatives in six priority areas: providing safe water, ending chronic homelessness, preventing substance use, helping children affected by HIV and AIDS, supporting transition-age youth in foster care, and extending Conrad Hilton’s support for the work of Catholic Sisters. In addition, following selection by an independent international jury, the Foundation annually awards the $2 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize to a nonprofit organization doing extraordinary work to reduce human suffering. From its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than $1 billion in grants, distributing $100 million in the U.S. and around the world in 2014. The Foundation’s current assets are approximately $2.5 billion. For more information, please visit www.hiltonfoundation.org.

Improving and Increasing Permanent Supportive Housing

/in , , , /by

We are pleased to announce that the Los Angeles chapter of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) has awarded our Housing Development team a $35,000 grant to increase and improve permanent supportive housing in Downtown Los Angeles utilizing HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) Program.

RAD is a rental housing preservation strategy that allows properties to be converted from one type of rental subsidy to another in order to improve their financial sustainability. The LISC grant allows us to create a two-project strategy and timeline to rebuild and create over 200 units of permanent supportive housing.

Long term, the planning work conducted for this RAD pilot will allow the Trust to rebuild its oldest and most physically and financially demanding properties, thus expanding the available supply of permanent supportive housing while simultaneously improving the quality of our existing portfolio and the wellbeing of our residents.

The mission of LISC is to equip struggling communities with the capital, strategy and know-how to become places where people can thrive. In Los Angeles, LISC utilizes capital investments and capacity-building strategies to improve the economic, physical and social living environment of economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Learn more about LA LISC by visiting their web site.

Is prefab the future for affordable housing in Los Angeles? A case from Michael Maltzan Architecture.

/in , , , , , , /by

The Architect’s Newspaper: The Star Apartments are Michael Maltzan Architecture’s third project for the Skid Row Housing Trust in downtown Los Angeles. In contrast to the firm’s 2009 New Carver Apartments—a sleek white cylinder with sharply faceted bays—Star is a rough-edged, asymmetrical stack of prefabricated units rising from an existing single-story podium of retail spaces.