Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Visit Star Apartments

On February 24th, nonprofit leaders from around the country visited the Star Apartments as part of the Bank of America Neighborhood Builders program. They met with Trust staff and partners to learn about the innovative design and cross-sector partnerships that make permanent supportive housing projects like the Star Apartments possible. Attendees toured resident units, common areas, and wellness facilities, and visited the Los Angeles County Department of Health Service‘s ground floor offices and medical clinic. There attendees met with Marc Trotz, Director of Housing for Health, who explained how the Department of Health Services is working with Skid Row Housing Trust to link homeless patients to housing.

Following the tour, Bank of America hosted a panel in the Star’s garden to explore how partnerships between public institutions and private nonprofits can better address homelessness. Panelists Elise Buik, United Way President and CEO, Mark Loranger, Chrysalis President and CEO, Jan Perry, Los Angeles Economic and Workforce Development General Manager, and Mike Alvidrez, Skid Row Housing Trust CEO, discussed how leaders throughout the community can collaborate to develop effective solutions to the most pressing issues.

Bank of America Neighborhood Builders program strengthens nonprofit leaders and supports nonprofit organizations through grants and leadership development, creating a national network of peers focused on permanently addressing social issues. It is the nation’s largest philanthropic investment in nonprofit leadership development.

Los Angeles City and County Pass Plans to Combat Homelessness

Earlier this month, Los Angeles City Council and the County Board of Supervisors coordinated efforts to pass comprehensive plans to prevent and end homelessness. I am glad lawmakers approved strategies that were created through an extensive stakeholder engagement process, including plans to develop more permanent supportive housing to serve the chronically homeless. Their plans embrace evidence-based approaches to homelessness – including Permanent Supportive Housing and Housing First – that Skid Row Housing Trust implemented over a decade ago when they were still considered controversial. Both strategies have now become standard practice for combatting chronic and veteran’s homelessness.

While the funding for most of the proposed housing and services have not yet been identified, I view these detailed blueprints as a good first step in a long-term commitment by our city and county leaders to remedy an affordable housing crisis that has plagued the Los Angeles economy for far too long. It will require continued coordination to house the 44,000 people currently homeless in our county, and funding to create the housing and services required to prevent homelessness in the first place. Your support and advocacy will help ensure that combatting homelessness continues to be prioritized by local leaders in the coming years.

Mike Alvidrez, CEO

Downtowners of Distinction: New Pershing Apartments

Cobbling together financing for and building low-income housing is a Herculean feat. Yet veteran developer Skid Row Housing Trust topped itself in May, when it opened the 69-unit New Pershing Apartments. The $28 million project at Fifth and Main streets transformed the old Pershing Hotel, built in 1889, and the Roma, from 1905, into a single five-story structure. The design from Killefer Flammang Architects managed to make the complex modern while preserving the Victorian façade. It is instantly a model for both low-income housing and any future historic building renovation.

LA County Board of Supervisors Commends Star Apartments for Innovation

Board of Supervisors Commendation

Los Angeles County Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas, Sheila Kuehl (left) and Don Knabe (right) celebrate the commendation with Skid Row Housing Trust’s CAO Monique Davis, CEO Mike Alvidrez, Director of Asset Management Jo-Anne Cohen and COO Tonja Boykin.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas presented a commendation to Skid Row Housing Trust to celebrate our innovative Star Apartments. The building was recently named one of the 25 Best Inventions of 2015 by TIME Magazine for launching permanent supportive housing into a new era of design for health, wellness and community revitalization. The Star is a nationally recognized model studied by organizations and local governments seeking to address the root causes of homelessness in their respective communities. “Enhancing the pipeline of quality affordable housing for all residents, especially our most vulnerable, has become one of the most pressing issues of our time,” said Supervisor Ridley-Thomas. “The homeless crisis that exists in Los Angeles County requires a bold new vision and Star Apartments is a defining example of what can and must be done.”

Star Apartments is the product of Skid Row Housing Trust’s pioneering partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS). DHS funds case management and supportive services at Star Apartments, and in exchange it identifies and refers individuals to the Star who are homeless and frequent utilizers of its emergency healthcare services. This partnership not only saves lives, but also saves the public millions of dollars that would otherwise be spent on inpatient and emergency care.

Designed by the world-renowned and award-winning Michael Maltzan Architecture, Star Apartments is an iconic building that aims to inspire residents and the surrounding community. A LEED for Homes Platinum development, the Star features 102 units of permanent supportive housing terraced above a Health & Wellness Center, which includes a community kitchen, art room, running/walking track, and exercise space. Residents can also enjoy a raised community garden, and multiple outdoor patio spaces for group activities. On the ground floor, the Star houses a clinic operated by DHS, which serves both Star residents and the surrounding community. It is also headquarters for DHS’ Housing for Health Division, a ground-breaking team that is committed to funneling resources towards the most critical determinant of health: housing.

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