Description
Beyond Shelter's core program is the Housing First Program for Homeless Families. Working together with more than 30 Referral Agencies, the Program helps very low-income, homeless families in greater Los Angeles to move out of shelters as quickly as possible, and back into permanent, affordable housing in residential neighborhoods. Over the past two decades, Beyond Shelter has also successfully advocated for the Housing First concept nationwide. Now also referred to as "Rapid Re-Housing," similar programs are now being adapted and implemented across the United States. Locally in Los Angeles, the Housing First Program has successfully helped more than 5,000 families to date. The success of Beyond Shelter's "Housing First" concept and its adaptability in many different communities and regions has been recognized nationally and internationally.
Other primary programs operated by Beyond Shelter in Los Angeles include the development and operation of more than 700 units of service-enriched, affordable housing in partnership with Beyond Shelter Housing Development Corporation. Beyond Shelter's Neighborhood Revitalization Project (NRP) in South Los Angeles combines affordable housing with social services and neighborhood centers benefiting residents of the community at-large. The NRP currently includes four affordable housing complexes, two neighborhood resource centers assisting thousands of low-income families and children each year, and an urban "pocket park."
Recent recognition for Beyond Shelter includes the Neighborhood Excellence Award given by the Bank of America in October, 2010. In December, 2010, Beyond Shelter became one of a small group of organizations nationwide to receive a MetLife Community Development Initiative Award. The MetLife Foundation recognized Beyond Shelter's work in South Los Angeles with homeless, at-risk, and very low-income families, including neighborhood, community, and economic development initiatives.
