Rental assistance programsare one option for solving—or at least alleviating—the homelessnessproblem in Los Angeles. Multifamily investor Geltand a rental fintech platform Domuso has launcheda non-profit The Gelt Foundation to provide rentalassistance to qualified tenants during a financial emergency.Tina M. Oswald will serve as executive director ofthe Gelt Foundation. To find out more about the homelessnessproblem and how this new foundation aims to help, we sat down withOswald for an exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: How is the homeless problem in LosAngeles impacting the multifamily market?

Tina M. Oswald: With an estimated43,000 people living on the streets or in cars on any given nightin LA, homelessness here takes a huge toll and affects everyone inmany ways – financially, medical service-wise, environmentally andit causes conflict in neighborhoods. There are numerouscircumstances for why people become homeless and one of those is anunforeseen financial crisis resulting in an apartment eviction andfor many, homelessness. That is where we come in – to helpprevent that type of eviction situation.