Utilizing apartments within our community to end homelessness
Michael in his Supportive Housing unit. Read his story.
LA Family Housing operates under a Housing-First model, meaning that we don’t require people experiencing homelessness to meet certain requirements (e.g., sobriety) before they can move into housing. Permanent Supportive Housing has been proven extremely successful, providing tenants with supportive services like case management to help them stay housed. At LAFH, 96% of PSH tenant remain housed.
But not everyone needs Permanent Supportive Housing. With more than 7,700 experiencing homeless in our Service Area alone, we must identify creative solutions to help people find a pathway toward housing stability.
LA Family Housing is increasing our focus on shared housing, an arrangement that can make use of already available apartments, as well as offer affordability and support for our participants. LA Family Housing Chief Programs Officer Kris Freed explains how this model can help us make a dent into our homeless crisis.
How long has shared housing been around?
The concept of shared housing has been around forever. When you live with your parents, get married, or go to college, you’re living in shared housing. 75% of people 65 or younger live in some form of shared housing. Because of the lack of affordable housing and a need to maximize available units, service providers have been discussing how to apply this fairly normal concept to what we’re doing in homeless services.
How will this impact how we effectively house homeless Angelenos?
Jessie looks through her husband's PhD thesis, in the room of her shared housing. Read her story.
From a participant’s perspective, shared housing can offer reduced rent and expenses, a sense of community, and even shared responsibilities.
Shared housing can also help providers maximize resources that can be reallocated to move someone else into housing. For example, using a Section 8 to rent a room or put two people in a 2-bedroom apartment reduces the overall cost and allows the Housing Authority to increase the amount of vouchers for other people.
Most people in our system have the resources to afford shared housing in a communal living space. If we’re housing three people at a time vs one person at a time, we’ll start to see an impact. Most importantly, because it’s affordable, the chance of them falling back into homelessness is reduced.
What challenges are providers facing in implementing shared housing?
We need to change the conversation around shared housing. People sometimes imagine shared housing as shoving a lot of people into one room. This is not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about everyone getting their own bedroom and using smaller units, 2 –3 bedrooms at most, using community space, bedrooms that are already available. Theoretically, we could end homelessness using space that’s already available in Los Angeles. It’s about choice. Shared housing not for everyone, but it is a potential solution to ending homelessness in someone’s life.
What would you say to people who would hesitate to let someone stay in their spare bedroom?
I completely understand the stigma that goes along with homelessness, and I would challenge them to recognize that the stigma is not the norm. My own story shows that one’s perception is not necessarily the reality.
When I was young, I became homeless, but an elderly woman had a room available in her house that she rented to me. When I moved out, I paid it forward by renting to a gentleman who had fallen into homelessness due to medical issues. He lived with me for 12 years; he became my family. He picked my child up from school, he helped her with her homework.
It’s about being able to build a connection. You won’t open the door to everybody, but there are lots of people who are at risk, who maybe just lost a job, someone who’s just teetering. We need to challenge people to think beyond the stigma.
What is LA Family Housing doing specifically around shared housing?
Last year there were approximately 1,000 households in all of Los Angeles that were in shared housing through the homeless services system. LA Family Housing had more than a third of them. We are committed as an agency to exploring shared housing options with our participants. We’re creating opportunities for participants to get to know one another so we can match people who might be a good fit. We’re spending time with the faith community to build a network of people who are willing to open a room for rent.
Additionally, we have a senior pilot coming up. Seniors are one of the fastest growing homeless populations. Their social security income is not keeping up with the rent and as a result, they are being pushed out. In the next year, we’re going to house 100 seniors in shared housing.
We’re also looking at using utilizing a shared housing tool. Living with someone is an intimate experience, regardless of if it’s romantic or not. This tool would help us look at personality types along with certain other criteria to pair people who would do the best living together.
What can the community do to help?
We all have hiccups in our lives, we all need support at one time or another. Help us move people home. Rent a room if you are able. This not only brings someone out of homelessness, but it can bring you a lot of benefits as well - financial benefits, the possibility, of mentorship, of community. If you own units, allow shared housing in these units. Be a part of the solution.
You might also be interested in how to become a housing advocate.