The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation helping to end homelesness
Permanent housing, pilot program
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—An initiative to end chronic and veteran homelessness in Los Angeles County within five years was boosted by a $13 million grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
The Los Angeles Business Leaders Task Force on Homeless, which is leading the initiative, plans to use $9 million of the money to help build 2,500 permanent supportive housing units. Another $3.6 million will go toward identifying and housing 4,500 of the most vulnerable people on the streets.
The rest of the grant will fund a pilot program to ease the transition into housing, and to engage faith leaders and communities in the campaign.
“The Hilton Foundation has been championing solutions for long-term homelessness for two decades, and we have learned that permanent supportive housing is the most cost-effective and successful,” said Steven Hilton, president and chief executive of the Hilton Foundation. “This approach restores stability, autonomy and dignity, and helps individuals integrate back into the community.”
Permanent supportive housing combines affordable housing with on-site comprehensive services such as mental health treatment, substance abuse prevention, employment opportunities and life training.
According to the Hilton Foundation, studies have shown it is 40 percent less costly to place someone in permanent supportive housing than to leave them on the streets.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A coalition representing homeless veterans sued the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs today, alleging the federal agency failed to provide stable housing at its West Los Angeles facility for vets suffering from mental disorders.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California filed the proposed class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles on behalf of four homeless veterans, the Vietnam Veterans of America and Carolina Winston Barrie, a descendant of one of the property’s original owners.
“Redevelopment” is by now an antiquated term for Los Angeles’ downtown area, as anyone traversing the freeways serviced by the hub adjoining the geographic center of this great metropolis can attest. The physical manifestation of all the architectural and real estate concerns and aspirations are readily apparent for miles around.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Funeral services were pending today for the Rev. Maurice Chase, a Catholic priest known as “Father Dollar Bill” for his holiday giveaways of $1 bills to the homeless on Skid Row.
Chase, 92, died Sunday night at his home in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer, according to his nephew, Robert Boyd.
“He was a really great, colorful, wonderful man,” he said.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif.—The Los Angeles Lakers will begin an employee service campaign dubbed “Lakers Team Up,” which will include assembling and distributing care packages for the homeless, preparing and serving food to senior citizens and cleaning up beaches.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $1.4 million to the Los Angeles County Commission on HIV, which will use the grant to help homeless patients with HIV or AIDS find transitional or permanent housing.
The three-year Special Projects of National Significance grant will allow the commission to lease housing for 208 patients.
