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os Angeles County’s Housing for Health Opens Walk-In Interim Housing and Triage Beds with 24/7 Clinical Care for Unhoused Individuals
LOS ANGELES (November 2, 2022) — Housing for Health and Exodus Recovery announce the opening of an interim housing site with triage beds and 24/7 clinical care to meet the immediate health care and housing needs among people experiencing homelessness in South Los Angeles.
Safe Landing is a 5-building campus built on County-owned property near the corner of Normandie Avenue and Imperial Highway in the West Athens neighborhood. It is a first-of-its-kind, walk-in facility that provides individuals with medical and mental health care, a clean and safe sleeping environment, three nutritious meals per day and daily activities. The center also provides help with budgeting, applying for public benefits and securing permanent housing.
Outreach teams, emergency responders and law enforcement officers also will bring people to the center as an alternative to jail. Safe Landing is scheduled to begin accepting people, including those under the influence, this month.
“Los Angeles County is leading the way with this Safe Landing Site” said Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair, Holly J Mitchell, “This is how Housing First works, removing the barriers for people to say Yes to housing and providing the support services for them to be well and stay housed.”
Exodus Recovery, which provides mental health and substance use treatment for thousands in LA County, will partner with LA Christian Health Centers to operate the 36-bed triage facility and on-site clinic offering comprehensive health care and mental health services. The site also includes 136 interim housing beds and will accept men, women, couples and their pets. The site was designed by KFA Architecture.
“This walk-in and comprehensive model of housing is extremely necessary and needed,” said Elizabeth Boyce, Housing for Health’s deputy director. “When somebody who is unhoused is ready to go inside, they are ready at that moment. Now we have a safe, clean, and welcoming facility that they can access around the clock.”
These services are made possible through funding from the federal American Rescue Plan, the Department of Mental Health and Measure H, LA County’s tax-based program to generate funds to support homeless services and short-term housing.
Safe Landing is the latest in a series of innovative, trauma-informed programs and housing solutions in an ongoing effort to break the cycle of homelessness in Los Angeles County, said Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of LA County Department of Health Services, which runs Housing for Health.
Housing for Health is a program that collaborates with County and community partners to provide housing and supportive services to tens of thousands of homeless and formerly homeless people in LA County, particularly those with complex health and behavioral health conditions.
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