Housing Stability
Our Goal: End Chronic and Veteran Homelessness By 2016
The number one reason for homelessness is loss of a job. Our region’s unemployment rate is at the highest it’s been for a decade, so it’s not surprising that we are the homeless capital of the nation, and that 40% of the homeless are women and children. We are focusing on homeless families, the fastest growing segment, the chronically homeless who are the most costly population and homeless veterans.
Last year we helped 4,000 homeless families and individuals move into permanent housing.
Permanent Housing Works
We can end chronic and family homelessness by moving people into housing quickly while giving them the necessary services to stay there. This permanent supportive housing model has drastically reduced homelessness in cities like New York, Denver and Seattle. And the UWGLA Homeless Cost Study shows that it is 43% more cost effective to provide the chronically homeless with supportive housing than to leave them on the streets, constantly cycling in and out of costly emergency rooms and jail. The data also shows that over 80% of people in permanent supportive housing stay off the streets for good.
Home For Good: The Action Plan to End Homelessness
Created by the Business Leaders Task Force on Homelessness in Fall, 2010, Home For Good is a blueprint for creating a cost-effective and efficient system that will end chronic and veteran homelessness in Los Angeles County by 2016. The plan is designed to end homelessness rather than simply manage it by focusing on permanent housing as the first, most critical step on the path to wellness. This proven model, which moves individuals into permanent housing with support services, saves money by drastically reducing individuals’ stay in shelter or on the streets.
Giving chronically homeless individuals access to permanent supportive housing allows overtaxed public resources such as emergency rooms, jails and other crisis services to function more efficiently. By simplifying and streamlining the manner in which homeless individuals are moved into housing, existing public resources can be reallocated to provide 12,000 units of permanent supportive housing for all chronically homeless individuals by 2016. This could avoid up to $280 million in costs each year to mainstream systems. And it will ultimately eliminate homelessness in Los Angeles.
In 2010, 70 civic, business, community and faith leaders signed on to help implement the Home For Good action plan. Go to homeforgoodla.org for more information.
Mobilizing the Business Community: Business Leaders Task Force on Homelessness
The Business Leader’s Task Force on Homelessness is a joint initiative of United Way of Greater Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. The Task Force is comprised of business leaders from throughout the county who have come together with a commitment to end homelessness in our region.
The Task Force promotes permanent solutions to homelessness in partnership with public sector, faith, nonprofit, and civic leaders, both local and national. Since 2009, the Task Force has examined systems issues, challenges, and opportunities involved in ending homelessness in our communities. By learning from local and national experts about solutions that work, the Task Force has taken the leadership needed to create a bold path to ending homelessness.
Finding a Permanent Home: Regina Mosley’s Story
Light streams through the window of Regina Mosley’s apartment at the St. George in downtown Los Angeles. Behind her, half a dozen certificates flutter against the wall. Excellence in Advocacy, Artistic Achievement and Personal Accomplishment.
Regina lowers herself onto the bed. She’s fallen so many times on the streets of Skid Row that she now needs a walker to get around. She suffers from depression and then there’s the heart that’s slowly failing her, which makes it hard to breathe. “Thank God for all of the services here in the building,” she says. “It’s been a big help for me.”
Regina’s Story continued Eighty-six people live at the St George. Residents sign leases for their apartments and pay what rent they can. The complex also provides on-site support services, the kind of services chronically homeless people need to help them stabilize in housing, like primary and mental health care or substance abuse treatment.
After everything Regina’s been through, it feels good to give back again. She’s on the board of two nonprofits, including Skid Row Housing Trust, which runs the St George. And then there’s the Good Time group. “We get together every holiday and provide a dinner for the entire complex,” she says. “This is a family community and I’m truly blessed to be here.”
Pamela’s Story
Pamela has a law degree, worked on NASA space shuttle program and ran for West Hollywood City Council. Then she became homeless. View Pamela’s Video Story.
HomeWalk
HomeWalk is United Way of Greater Los Angeles’ annual 5K walk to end homelessness. Over the past five years, HomeWalk has mobilized almost 30,000 walkers, raised almost two million dollars and funded organizations that have moved 9,000 people into permanent housing. All proceeds go directly back to the community, supporting permanent solutions to end homelessness for chronically homeless people, veterans and families.
Common Ground: The 100,000 Homes Campaign
United Way of Greater Los Angeles is partnering with Common Ground on the 100,000 Homes Campaign, a national effort to find and house 100,000 of the most vulnerable, chronically homeless people throughout the country. This inspiring and innovative project is mobilizing communities throughout the country to reach out to their homeless neighbors, many of whom have been living on the streets for decades, and find them homes. United Way will help mobilize hundreds of volunteers throughout LA County to support this effort, provide funding to organizations implementing this proven model, and advocate for policy change to invest critical resources for permanent supportive housing to make this vision reality. For more information on Common Ground click here.
