Psomas Paper Yacht Challenge

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On June 23rd, we raced paper boats across City National Plaza Fountain to raise support for Skid Row Housing Trust! We raised over $50,000 for permanent supportive housing that breaks the cycle of homelessness, a record for the event. Thank you to Psomas and all the wonderful sponsors, volunteers, participants, and donors who made this fun-filled event possible. View photos online highlighting the event, and check out the great PHHHOTO booth at http://phhhoto.com/p/paperyacht.

Tasty treats and beverages were served by The Pie Hole, Pink’s Hotdogs, Tito’s Vodka, and Boomtown Brewery. Silent auction items were donated by Rotelli Cyclery, Skingraft, LA Downtowner, The Standard, ACE Hotel, Warby Parker, Tanner Goods, Wheelhouse Coffee, Panel Wallets, and many more. This year’s sponsors included:

ADMIRAL

Tito’s Vodka

CAPTAINS

The Giving Keys

Union Bank

LIEUTENANTS

National Equity Fund (NEF)

Foley Lardner LLP

ENSIGNS

Bocarsly Emden Cowan Esmail & Arndt LLP

JOSS Realty

The Standard

ABLE SEAMEN

ACEC

Eminent Resources, Inc.

Dealey, Renton & Associates

Gensler

California Community Foundation

Warby Parker

Killefer Flammang Architects

Crain & Associates

Geoffrey Arrobio

Morley Builders

Nabhi Yousef

Tribute Real Estate Holdings

PIRATES

Gibson Transportation

LAHQ

John Pallante

Partner Energy, Inc.

Arad Vejdani

HONORARY SPONSORS

The Pie Hole

Boomtown Brewery

City National Plaza

LA Downtown News

DJs on a Dime

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Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Visit Star Apartments

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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.

Downtowners of Distinction: New Pershing Apartments

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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

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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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The 25 Best Inventions of 2015: Star Apartments

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TIME: For decades, housing for the homeless has too often meant transient shelters or warehouse-­like abodes. L.A.’s Star Apartments aims to buck that trend by design; it functions more like a minivillage than a single building, says Maltzan of his third collaboration with Skid Row Housing Trust, a local nonprofit. In addition to 102 prefabricated studios, which are ingeniously staggered into four terraced stories, Star Apartments offers a ground-floor medical clinic and, above that, a garden, an outdoor running track and space for classrooms. The goal, says Maltzan, is to make the residents of its 300-sq.-ft. units—who are handpicked by the county department of health ­services—feel “like they’re part of a dynamic and intimate community,” a strategy that can help people, especially those struggling with homelessness and substance-­abuse issues, re-­establish stability in their lives.

U.S. Green Building Council Announces LEED for Homes Award Winners

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Outstanding Affordable Project: Star Apartments, Skid Row Housing Trust, LA, Calif. This innovative, 102-unit permanent supportive housing development provides healthy and sustainable homes with social services to disabled men and women experiencing homelessness. Designed by the award-winning firm Michael Maltzan Architecture, this LEED Platinum project includes an onsite medical clinic, a 15,000 square foot Health and Wellness Center, and the new headquarters of the LA County Department of Health Services’ (DHS) Housing for Health Division.

Next City Announces the 2015 Vanguard

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