Housing and Mental Health

May was Mental Health Awareness Month. The Trust’s approach to permanent supportive housing is to provide the stability, support, and community necessary for its residents to address an array of mental health issues. To highlight the connection between supportive housing and mental health, we interviewed Stacey Hartnett, a Resident Services Coordinator, and Kara Klein, a psychotherapist with John Wesley Community Health (JWCH). Stacey and Kara work together closely at the Trust’s Abbey Apartments to provide residents a safe living space that has a network of support. Watch to learn more about how Trust’s partnership with JWCH Institute helps residents achieve wellness.
Learn more about JWCH Institute at jwchinstitute.org.

A bold bet in LA: Using health care funds to find housing for the homeless

STAT News: The job sounds impossible: solve the health care crisis in the massive and desperately sick homeless population of Skid Row, which sprawls across dozens of blocks just south of downtown.

AIA|LA asks “How will design professions respond to the nearly 47,000 homeless people living in L.A. County?”

ArchPaper: A recent count by Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) put the growing visibility and proliferation of homelessness in L.A. County into stark terms. Reporting a 5.7 percent increase in overall homelessness, the report counted 46,874 homeless individuals this year compared with the 44,359 counted in 2015. Within that statistic, LAHSA detailed 34,527 people living on the streets full-time, up from 31,025 doing so one year prior.

Foundations Partner to Accelerate Development of Permanent Supportive Housing

 

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation President & CEO Peter Laugharn, California Community Foundation President & CEO Antonia Hernández, and Weingart Foundation President & CEO Fred Ali announced their partnership to accelerate permanent supportive housing alongside Skid Row Housing Trust CEO Mike Alvidrez, LA City Councilmember Gil Cedillo, and Joe Sims, a resident of the New Genesis. Photo courtesy of the California Community Foundation.

Yesterday morning, Skid Row Housing Trust hosted a press conference for the California Community Foundation, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and Weingart Foundation at the New Genesis. The three foundations officially announced that they are partnering to provide $16 million in loans and grants to accelerate the production of permanent supportive housing in the City of Los Angeles to at least 1,000 units per year, a 700-unit increase from current production levels.

The proposal also calls upon the City of Los Angeles to create new, local revenue streams to fund the increased production of permanent supportive housing, and to build upon Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Executive Directive 13 to dramatically reduce development timelines for permanent supportive housing.

“We know that permanent supportive housing has a proven track record of helping those most in need, while saving government and tax-payer money,” said California Community Foundation President & CEO Antonia Hernández. “By moving frequent users of services like emergency rooms and shelters into apartments that provide much-needed social services, we’re helping our homeless neighbors stabilize and eventually become self-sufficient.”

Mayor Garcetti, Councilmember Gill Cedillo, and Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson also spoke in support of the initiative. The foundations’ support will leverage Mayor Garcetti’s commitment of $138 million to combat homelessness over the next year. The coalition aims to build on this momentum and encourage the City to develop long-term solutions to homelessness.

“Homelessness touches every corner of our City, impacting all of us,” said Mayor Garcetti. “To combat the crisis, my 2016 budget will include a historic $138 million investment to drive forward our homelessness strategies, but as we bring record levels of City investments to the table, we also need all hands on deck. These foundations are leading the private sector by partnering with us to do more for those who need our help the most. I applaud their work.”

In addition to remarks from CEO Mike Alvidrez, New Genesis resident, Joe Sims spoke about the impact that permanent supportive housing has had on his health and wellbeing.

Photo courtesy of the California Community Foundation.

PBS SoCal: The Controversy Over How to Solve Homelessness

CEO Mike Alvidrez was on PBS SoCal to discuss solutions to homelessness in Los Angeles, appearing alongside Union Rescue Mission CEO Rev. Andy Bales.