The project, which was announced in August, will partner with philanthropic organization
LOS ANGELES — The state of California holds multiple first-place distinctions in the latest annual homeless report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — but none of them are positive.
No. 1 in the number of homeless individuals. No. 1 in the number of unaccompanied youth who are homeless. No. 1 in “chronic patterns of homelessness.”
In Los Angeles County, the report puts the number of homeless individuals at 75,518, and 77% of households considered “extremely low-income” pay more than half of their income on housing.
With stagnant wages, inflation and rising home prices and rents, the state and local cities are scrambling to provide more affordable housing. And now private institutions are joining the response, too.
In August, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced that it was spearheading a new effort to address the issue in collaboration with some of the area’s leading philanthropic organizations.
The new Our Lady Queen of Angels Housing Alliance will be chaired by Archbishop José H. Gomez and will seek to “find ways to get more housing built and create more affordability for families and individuals in Los Angeles,” executive director Amy Anderson said.
The alliance’s pilot project will build affordable housing at Catholic Charities of Los Angeles’ St. Mary’s Center in East Hollywood. Located near LA City College, plans for the “Willow Brook” project include a six-story, 74-unit apartment building to house young people graduating out of foster care and lower-income community college students.
The complex would feature studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments, along with study lounges, community rooms, a wellness center and a rooftop deck. Rent would be as low as $400-$500, Anderson said.
The project is still in the planning stages, but if all goes according to plan, the $27 million development would break ground in the fall of 2025 and be completed in 2027.
The development’s location was conceived in part due to some eye-opening stats about populations often described as “underserved.”
Various studies have shown that about 30% of former foster youth become homeless or incarcerated within two years of leaving the system. Also, about 20% of community college students in California reported experiencing homelessness in the prior year, according to a State Assembly report.
“Too many students are unable to graduate and leverage the benefits of a college education because of financial constraints, and these affordable homes will support them in completing their degrees,” Anderson told Angelus, the online news outlet of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
How the collaboration between the archdiocese and the Our Lady Queen of Angels Housing Alliance will develop remains a work in progress.
“The Catholic Church has a deep commitment to serving the poor and vulnerable in our communities,” Archbishop Gomez said in a statement. “Through Catholic Charities and our ministries on Skid Row and elsewhere, we have been working for many years to provide shelter and services for our homeless brothers and sisters. With this new initiative we see exciting possibilities to make more affordable housing available, especially for families and young people.”
Going forward, the new housing alliance is also hopeful that it will partner with other entities on additional projects.
For the Willow Brook project, the archdiocese has provided the land and the Housing Alliance is doing most of the legwork for approvals, designs, and other housing entitlements, said Michael Davitt, the archdiocese’s director of real estate. Various individuals and organizations have pledged funding, support and expertise to support the initiative.
