Los Angeles

The Corporation for Supportive Housing and Conrad N. HiltonFoundation recently revealed a $5.2-million initiative to continuebuilding permanent supportive housing for homeless people in LosAngeles. With assistance from the Community Redevelopment Agency ofthe City of Los Angeles, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Fannie Mae,the Los Angeles Supportive Housing Recovery Initiative, as the neweffort is called, will provide a mix of grants, low-interest loansand technical assistance to housing developers in Los Angeles thatare experiencing project delays due to state and municipal budgetcrises and frozen credit markets. The Hilton Foundation provided $4million toward the Los Angeles Supportive Housing RecoveryInitiative. Permanent supportive housing, which combines affordablehousing with supportive services, has proven to be a highly costeffective way to end long-term homelessness for people facingcomplex challenges, including mental illness, substance abuse andphysical disabilities, according to a prepared statement. “Theeconomic downturn has stalled construction of new supportivehousing developments and placed a crippling financial burden onmany nonprofit housing developers who have been forced to resort toprogram cuts, hiring freezes and lay-offs,” the statement says.“The LA Supportive Housing Recovery Initiative is critical toensure that the permanent supportive housing industry isn’tpermanently hurt by the recession, which would have long-term anddevastating results for the city, nonprofit developers and homelessand disabled people in desperate need of this housing,” says RuthTeague, CSH Los Angeles director.”

Orange County