SOUTH LA-The South Los Angeles Homeless TAY and Foster Care Collaborative (Collaborative) will launch a “Homeless No More Community Plan”, a blueprint that will outline 6 strategic goals with action steps to develop a system of care in South LA for homeless youth at a community briefing session, on Thursday, September 25, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Holman United Methodist Church, 3320 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, 90018.
A landmark achievement for the Collaborative that began in 2012 as a response to South LA’s growing homeless youth population, the briefing will inform on local community efforts to prevent and end youth homelessness, provide information on community asset mapping activities, and introduce a community plan to build a local system of care that improves the quality of life of vulnerable youth.
Reverend Kelvin Sauls, Collaborative Chair, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Commissioner, and Pastor of Holman United Methodist Church said, “Our youth may be homeless, but not hopeless. We are demonstrating that as a community, we are responsible for the well-being of vulnerable youth and will give them hope through our collective efforts to garner resources to improve their lives.”
In addition to informing on the state of South LA’s homeless youth, the “Homeless No More Community Plan” briefing will unveil six bold strategic goals and actions, developed collaboratively with 150 local stakeholders, to be implemented and executed over five years to improve housing, employment, education, well-being, and personal development outcomes for homeless youth, especially for a predominantly youth of color and low-income area of Los Angeles.
Leaders from across the business, law enforcement, governmental, health, academic, interfaith, philanthropic, and non-profit sectors as well as former and at-risk homeless youth have committed themselves to employ sustainable community-driven solutions that will prevent vulnerable youth from entering into homelessness and to quickly intervene so that vulnerable youth don’t experience frequent or longer periods of homelessness.
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“We must create a true safety net for our most vulnerable young people,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. “The community plan is one way we can make sure that some of these children are not simply abandoned to the streets. I would like to thank all of the partners in this endeavor for their hard work and dedication to ending youth homelessness.”
Confirmed dignitaries for the community briefing include: Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, California State Senator Holly Mitchell, Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Board of Commissioners Chair Kerry Morrison, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Los Angeles Field Office Director Ray Brewer.
About the South Los Angeles Homeless TAY and Foster Care Collaborative
The South Los Angeles Homeless TAY and Foster Care Collaborative is coalition of business, government, nonprofits, and residents working to prevent and end homelessness for South Los Angeles’ transition age youth. For more information, visit the organization’s website at www.southlatay.org.
More Info: Janet Denise Kelly, [email protected], 323-786-2413
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CityWatch
Vol 12 Issue 76
Pub: Sep 19, 2014
