2,300 Los Angeles Homeless To Be Housed

United Way of Greater Los Angeles Announces Distribution of $500,000 in Funds
Raised From 2007 HomeWalk through Grants to Eleven Area Organizations

LOS ANGELES, June 19 /PRNewswire/ -- As the homeless capital of America,
Los Angeles County has 73,000 homeless men and women; over 40% are women and
children. Today, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles announced the
distribution of $500,000 in funds raised from the 2007 HomeWalk as part of its
year-round Pathway Home campaign to prevent and end homelessness. Supporting
leading nonprofits working not just to manage, but to end homelessness, these
grants will move 2,300 Los Angeles residents from the streets or temporary
shelters into homes, through partnerships with eleven Los Angeles agencies
selected as grant recipients. The United Way also announced today the 2008
HomeWalk, to be held on November 15, 2008 at the Exposition Park in Los
Angeles.
The county-wide epidemic of homelessness is one of United Way's core
priorities for its new 10-year action plan to create pathways out of poverty.
The United Way's approach to reducing homelessness includes supporting proven
best practices: rapid rehousing programs that stabilize families with housing
placement, short-term rental assistance, and case management. For those
long-term homeless with mental and/or physical disability the United Way
supports the state-of-the-art model, permanent supportive housing -- housing
with built-in social services.
"Contrary to popular belief, there are solutions to homelessness," says
Elise Buik, president and CEO of United Way of Greater Los Angeles. "In LA
County, just 12 percent of our homeless are sheltered, with the remaining
88 percent sleeping on the streets, in cars, parks or abandoned buildings. By
providing assistance through rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing
programs, we can help families and individuals take crucial steps off the
streets and out of poverty."
Homeless statistics in Los Angeles County:
-- 73,000 homeless men and women; 10,000 children are without a home
(according to LA Homeless Services Authority, Homelessness Count 2007)
-- Los Angeles is America's wealthiest county, with over 250,000
millionaires; it is also the nation's homeless capital with 1 in 4 children
living in poverty
-- Of the four major race/ethnic groups, African Americans make up over
50% of the homeless population; 24% of the homeless are Latino, followed by
whites at 19%, multi-race at 4%, American Indian or Alaskan Native at 2% and
Asian Pacific Islanders at just 1%.
-- Homelessness is throughout the County, not only in downtown Los
Angeles: In San Fernando Valley there are approximately 6,400 homeless
residents, Antelope Valley has over 1,800 and Glendale, Long Beach and
Pasadena have over 5,000.
The entire $500,000 raised in last year's HomeWalk is being granted to
eleven Los Angeles organizations focused on providing permanent supportive
housing and rapid rehousing programs. Agencies were required to complete a
competitive request for proposal process, and had to show capacity to execute
on permanent supportive housing or rapid rehousing strategy components,
including areas such as: screening, assessment and planning; rental
assistance; housing location and case management. Each agency will receive up
to $50,000.
Six agencies will receive grants for rapid rehousing programs and five
agencies will receive grants for permanent supportive housing. Agencies
receiving grants that focus on moving families as quickly as possible into
housing include:
-- Harbor Interfaith Services, located in the harbor district
-- Catholic Charities, program located in Long Beach
-- Beyond Shelter, offices located in metro and south Los Angeles, Long
Beach and Pacioma -- LA Family Housing, located in the San Fernando Valley
-- Door of Hope, located in Pasadena
-- Imagine LA, working in West LA and the San Fernando Valley

Agencies receiving grants that focus on permanent supportive housing
programs include: -- A Community of Friends, site located in metro Los
Angeles
-- Lamp Community, located in Skid Row
-- Skid Row Housing Trust, located in Skid Row
-- OPCC, located in Santa Monica
-- Housing Works, site located in East LA

HomeWalk is part of United Way's pledge to help prevent and end
homelessness. The United Way hopes to attract 7,000 HomeWalk participants and
raise $750,000 in its second year on November 15. For more information please
go to http://www.homewalkla.org.
About United Way of Greater Los Angeles
United Way of Greater Los Angeles is a nonprofit organization that creates
pathways out of poverty by focusing on meeting basic needs, improving
educational achievement and increasing financial stability for the most
vulnerable in our community. Through its research work, United Way identifies
the issues and works in partnership with community leaders and supporters to
solve them by funding targeted programs and advocating for change. For more
information, visit http://www.unitedwayla.org.
SOURCE United Way of Greater Los Angeles

Taulene Ayoub of United Way of Greater Los Angeles, +1-213-808-6436,
tayoub@unitedwayla.org