The Kresge Foundation’s investment boosts pool of funding to accelerate development of permanent supportive housing, a cost-effective measure to address homelessness.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Interviews are available upon request with residents of permanent supportive housing
LOS ANGELES – September 22, 2016 – The Kresge Foundation is the latest funding partner in an unprecedented, multi-sector effort to annually triple the number of permanent supportive housing units in the City of Los Angeles. Kresge’s $1 million three-year grant and $6 million low-interest loan will help homeless Angelenos facing complex challenges to live with stability, autonomy and dignity.
The Accelerating Permanent Supportive Housing Initiative is a partnership with the California Community Foundation (CCF), Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Weingart Foundation, the City of Los Angeles and nonprofit lenders and developers. Partners have committed $63 million in a revolving fund to launch 1,000 units each year.
Initiative partners have already seen how thousands of formerly homeless L.A. residents have found a place to call home in permanent supportive housing, where they can also get the mental health and substance abuse treatment they may need. Over the past 25-30 years, nonprofit housing developers have built nearly 10,000 units of permanent supportive housing in Los Angeles. But more needs to be done – and at a faster rate – to address our growing crisis.
“This initiative demonstrates the power in coordinating a multi-stakeholder response around an innovative model that improves outcomes and reduces costs,” said David Fukuzawa, managing director of Kresge’s Health and Human Services Programs. “By blending the work of health and human services, permanent supportive housing provides services while also working to address the systematic challenges that lead to homelessness. We hope that other cities experiencing similar pressures will be able to learn from this collaborative.”
To triple the number of units created, this effort is asking nonprofit developers to collectively start 10 to 15 new developments each year. Loans for developers will be managed by CSH, also known as the Corporation for Supportive Housing, through their Supportive Housing Loan Fund.
Kresge’s $6 million loan will support the fund as well as CCF’s efforts to raise additional resources through donor advised funds (DAFs) for deployment as charitable investments.
“Making low-interest loans from DAFs is an approved use of those funds, but today the vast majority of DAFs are used as grant capital,” said Kimberlee Cornett, managing director of Kresge’s Social Investment Practice. “We know donors want to do the most good with their money and their dollars can potentially go further and be more impactful in the form of low-interest loans. We’re excited to work with CCF to help bring that opportunity to its donors and to direct more money into efforts to end homelessness in Los Angeles.”
A group of experienced nonprofit housing developers has been involved in identifying ways to streamline the system and accelerate production, including A Community of Friends, Clifford Beers Housing, LINC Housing, Los Angeles Family Housing, Mercy Housing California, New Directions for Veterans, PATH Ventures, Skid Row Housing Trust and SRO Housing Corporation. These and others may apply through CSH for loan funds, and through United Way’s Home for Good Collaborative for grant support, to cover the early costs of buying sites, developing plans and securing City approvals. The approval process will also be streamlined through the City’s Planning and Housing departments.
After securing approvals, developments will need long-term funding from private and public sources including state, federal and local sources. This November, the City of Los Angeles will also give voters the chance to approve a $1.2 billion bond measure – Proposition HHH – to finance new apartments for the homeless.
The California Community Foundation is committed to improving the quality of life for all Los Angeles County residents by addressing the root causes of the county’s most urgent problems. The foundation has served as a public, charitable organization since 1915. For more information, please visit www.calfund.org.
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is a family foundation established in 1944 by the man who started Hilton Hotels. The Hilton Foundation provides funds to nonprofit organizations working to improve the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people throughout the world. From its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than $1.5 billion in grants, distributing $107 million in the U.S. and around the world in 2015. For more information, please visit hiltonfoundation.org.
The Kresge Foundation is a $3.6 billion private, national foundation that works to expand opportunities in America’s cities through grantmaking and social investing in arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services and community development in Detroit. In 2015, the Board of Trustees approved 370 grants totaling $125.2 million, and nine social investment commitments totaling $20.3 million. For more information, visit kresge.org.
The Weingart Foundation is committed to advancing social and economic equity by providing grants and other support designed to improve the capacity and effectiveness of nonprofit organizations working with people and communities who currently face the greatest obstacles to opportunity. Founded in 1951, the Foundation’s mission is to build a better Southern California by supporting nonprofit organizations to more effectively serve the underserved. For more information, please visit weingartfnd.org.
CONTACT
Taleen Ananian
[cryptx]tananian@www.calfund.org
[/cryptx]
(213) 452-6203
Related:
Local Foundations Partner to Provide $16 Million for Housing Plan to Help Combat Homelessness in Los Angeles
Statement from Mayor Garcetti: Philanthropic Contribution Will Help Advance L.A.’s Housing Solutions for the Homeless
This letter to the editor originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
To the editor: Permanent housing with services is a proven, cost-effective approach to moving people from homelessness to stability, and opposing Proposition H will only let this crisis continue to worsen.
(“The wrong way to fix homelessness in L.A.,” Opinion, Aug. 24)
The nonprofit affordable housing community already builds 300 such apartments each year; with Proposition H, we can triple that to 1,000. Nearly $70 million in grants and loans has already been pledged by community groups to ramp up production, and they are working with the city of Los Angeles to shorten pre-production timelines.
But whether it takes three years, as the authors claim, or one, we should start now. We cannot waste any more time.
A purchaser of a $1 million home this year would pay $95 in tax each year. As a homeowner and a concerned resident of Los Angeles, I think that $95 is well worth it to be able to feel that my community is doing something positive to move people from my street corners to decent apartments.
Ann Sewill, Los Angeles
The writer is vice president of housing and economic opportunity at the California Community Foundation.
Inside Philanthropy
Tags: homeless, homelessness, housing, housing & economic opportunity
Philanthropy News Digest
Tags: Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, homeless, homelessness, housing, housing & economic opportunity, Weingart Foundation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 2016
The Mayor applauded today’s announcement from the California Community Foundation (CCF), Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and Weingart Foundation to provide $16 million in loans and grants to accelerate the production of permanent supportive housing for the homeless in the City of Los Angeles. This contribution will leverage the Mayor’s proposal to invest $138 million in homeless services and housing.
“Today, we see what is possible when the public and private sectors unite to meet the moral imperative of caring for those who need us most. We must do our part as a City, and I am committed to leveraging every possible resource — which is why I’ve proposed a record $138 million for homeless housing and services in this year’s budget, and called for a linkage fee on new development.
If we are going to lift up unsheltered Angelenos and keep them off the streets for good, we need all hands on deck. And today, our philanthropic partners have risen to the challenge. Their generosity will help expand L.A.’s pipeline of permanent supportive housing, and support the growth of non-profits that will move this critical work forward. I fully support creating a streamlined process for building new permanent supportive housing, and intend to work with Council to make that a reality. We need all Angelenos to band together to get more people into the homes they deserve more quickly than ever before.” — Mayor Eric Garcetti
###
Partnership will accelerate the development of permanent supportive housing, a cost-effective measure to address homelessness.
LOS ANGELES – May 10, 2016 – The California Community Foundation (CCF), Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and Weingart Foundation are partnering to provide $16 million in loans and grants to increase permanent housing solutions for our most vulnerable homeless neighbors.
With the City of Los Angeles facing a state of emergency on homelessness, now is the time to act on solutions. Data has proven that permanent supportive housing (PSH) is the most effective way to end chronic homelessness and is a critical piece to kick-starting solutions to this crisis. PSH combines affordable housing with services that help people facing complex challenges to live with stability, autonomy and dignity.
The coalition has proposed an actionable plan – developed in partnership with nonprofit housing developers and lenders – for the City to produce at least 1,000 PSH units per year, a 700-unit increase from current production. The proposal calls upon the City to create new, local revenue streams to fund the increased production of PSH and to build upon Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Executive Directive 13 to dramatically reduce development timelines for PSH from the San Fernando Valley to the Westside to South Los Angeles.
“We know that permanent supportive housing has a proven track record of helping those most in need, while saving government and tax-payer money,” said California Community Foundation President & CEO Antonia Hernández. “By moving frequent users of services like emergency rooms and shelters into apartments that provide much-needed social services, we’re helping our homeless neighbors stabilize and eventually become self-sufficient.”
The foundations’ contribution and plan will leverage Mayor Garcetti’s commitment of $138 million to combat homelessness over the next year. The coalition aims to build on this momentum and encourage the City to develop long-term solutions to homelessness.
“Homelessness touches every corner of our City, impacting all of us,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “To combat the crisis, my 2016 budget will include a historic $138 million investment to drive forward our homelessness strategies, but as we bring record levels of City investments to the table, we also need all hands on deck. These foundations are leading the private sector by partnering with us to do more for those who need our help the most. I applaud their work.”
“The City of Los Angeles cannot do it alone. In order to meet our production goals, we need both new funding sources and land use incentives. I applaud the foundations’ leadership for bringing together new money to help us achieve our 1,000 unit per year goal,” said Councilmember Gil Cedillo, City of Los Angeles First District. “This commitment, along with the legislation I have put forth to streamline the permitting process under a new Permanent Supportive Housing Program, will allow the City to define development performance standards with possible ministerial actions. This program will help to expedite the housing we need for our most vulnerable population and house L.A. This partnership will make available the necessary money to get these units built.”
These early commitments will leverage another $45 million in loans for the early costs of developing 1,000 new units. Loans will be managed by CSH. Also known as the Corporation for Supportive Housing, CSH is a highly-rated, nonprofit community development financial institution advancing solutions to improve the lives of the most vulnerable people, maximize public resources and build healthy communities. CSH has worked with all three foundations investing in this partnership and has been located in Los Angeles since 2003. Since 2008, CSH’s Supportive Housing Loan Fund has provided acquisition and predevelopment financing for more than 1,600 permanent supportive housing units. Across the country, CSH has loaned or granted more than $500 million to create supportive housing.
A group of experienced nonprofit housing developers has been involved in developing the housing plan, identifying ways to streamline the system and accelerate production: A Community of Friends, Los Angeles Family Housing, Mercy Housing California, PATH Ventures, Skid Row Housing Trust and SRO Housing Corporation. These and others may apply through CSH for a loan.
In addition to loans, the foundations are planning to make grants to help build the infrastructure needed to meet the ambitious goal of tripling the number of PSH units annually.
These foundations have a long history of leveraging opportunities for acceleration through coordinated funding across Los Angeles County, including working to address homelessness. As members of the Home for Good Funders Collaborative – organized by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles and L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce – foundations and the public sector have jointly aligned more than $650 million over the last four years to address homelessness in Los Angeles County.
Read Mayor Garcetti’s statement.
The California Community Foundation is committed to improving the quality of life for all Los Angeles County residents by addressing the root causes of the county’s most urgent problems. The foundation has served as a public, charitable organization since 1915. For more information, please visit www.calfund.org.
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is a family foundation established in 1944 by the man who started Hilton Hotels. We provide funds to nonprofit organizations working to improve the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people throughout the world. For more information, please visit hiltonfoundation.org.
Weingart Foundation’s mission is to build a better Southern California by supporting nonprofit organizations to more effectively serve the underserved. For more information, please visit weingartfnd.org.
CONTACT
Taleen Ananian
tananian@www.calfund.org
(213) 452-6203
By Antonia Hernández