LOS ANGELES, California – In September, Vets Advocacy, the nonprofit created in the landmark Valentini settlement agreement, secured a partnership with Los Angeles County to bring Measure H funding to the VA West Los Angeles Redevelopment Project in an unprecedented move to better coordinate federal and county resources for homeless veterans. In March, L.A. County voters overwhelmingly approved Measure H, a $355 million dedicated annual funding stream for 10 years to combat homelessness through services and rental subsidies. Vets Advocacy successfully advocated for, negotiated, and coordinated the first deployment of Measure H funding to the VA West Los Angeles campus under Homeless Initiative Strategy D7. Step Up on Second, currently the only permanent supportive housing provider on the campus, will receive these Measure H funds as a beneficiary of the Measure H program for the VA West Los Angeles campus.
The VA West Los Angeles Redevelopment Project represents the single largest planned homeless housing development in Los Angeles County. In January 2016, VA adopted the Draft Master Plan Framework in an effort to build at least 1,200 supportive housing units for homeless veterans on the VA’s storied 388-acred campus in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. According to latest 2017 Point-In-Time Count, there are 4,828 homeless veterans throughout Los Angeles County.
Vets Advocacy plans to announce this first-of-its-kind Measure H partnership with the County and Step Up on Second at a town hall event on October 18, 2017. At the town hall, Vets Advocacy will present real estate development experts with decades of experience in urban planning and complex veteran housing projects. Other speakers at the town hall will include representatives from Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative as well as the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, who will present on the planned Purple Line stop on the campus.
“The County’s commitment to dedicate Measure H funding to the West LA VA Redevelopment Project clearly shows the County is serious about its promise of coordinating Measure H dollars with other agencies and service providers involved in fighting homelessness and leveraging resources to stretch them farther,” said Jesse Creed, Executive Director of Vets Advocacy.
“This partnership fulfills two key commitments LA County made to voters with Measure H – to provide services to homeless veterans and coordinate with other government programs, agencies, and service providers to enhance the homeless services delivery system” said Leticia Colchado of L.A. County’s Homeless Initiative.
Aaron Criswell, Step Up on Second Vice President of Housing Services, added “This funding will go directly to the aid of the vets living on campus. It will allow Step Up to enhance the supportive services staffing available and increase the efforts to turn 54 tenants into a thriving and viable community.”