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Beyond
Shelter is a non-profit organization founded in 1988 in response to increasing
numbers of homeless families in Los Angeles and the need for a more
comprehensive approach to serving them. Today, the mission of the agency is
to develop systemic approaches to combat poverty and homelessness among
families with children, and to enhance family economic security and
well-being. Beyond Shelter accomplishes this mission through the
following strategies: (1) responsive service delivery, (2) people-centered
community development, and (3) the creation of knowledge for social change.
PROMOTING SYSTEMIC
CHANGE:
In 1988,
Beyond Shelter introduced an innovation in the field at the time - “Housing
First” for homeless families (also known as "rapid re-housing"),
which has since helped to transform both public policy and practice on a
national scale. Through this new approach, rather than remain in shelters and
transitional housing for months and sometimes years at a time, homeless
families are assisted in (1) moving back into permanent housing as quickly
as possible, and (2) then provided six months to one full year of
individualized case management support to help them rebuild their lives
(including jobs, childcare, and assistance in attaining improved social and
economic well-being). The methodology is based largely on the belief that
vulnerable and at-risk homeless families are more responsive to interventions
and social services support after they are in their own housing rather than
still living in emergency shelters or transitional housing. It is also
premised on the belief that housing is a basic human right. Over the past
twenty years, more than 4,300 homeless families have participated successfully
in the program in Los Angeles.
Beyond
Shelter’s “Housing First” Program has received both national and
international recognition, including one of “25 U.S. Best Practices”
presented at the 1996 United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, Habitat
II, held in Istanbul, Turkey; one of “100 International Best Practices”
chosen by the United Nations on Human Settlements for dissemination worldwide
that same year; and one of 19 model programs in the Pew Partnership’s national
initiative, Wanted: Solutions for America, a systematic evaluation
effort to document and disseminate successful strategies to building stronger
communities, coordinated by Rutgers University’s Center for Urban Policy
Research in 2001.
OTHER PROGRAMS &
ACTIVITIES:
With its
development affiliate, Beyond Shelter Housing Development Corporation, Beyond
Shelter also develops service-enriched, affordable housing in
inner-city neighborhoods and, since the 1992 Civil Unrest, has been developing
the Broadway South Neighborhood Revitalization Project in South Central
Los Angeles, in response to entrenched, generational poverty and the need for
improved access to housing and social services in the area.
CONSULTING & TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Beyond
Shelter’s Institute for Research, Training & Technical Assistance
provides consulting, training, policy papers and publications to other
agencies and localities nationwide and works closely with numerous national
advocacy organizations on the promotion of its key initiatives: Housing
First/Rapid Re-Housing and Service-Enriched Housing. |
