Beyond Shelter has released an evaluation report of permanent housing outcomes for 300 high-risk families served by the Skid Row Families Demonstration Project. The Demonstration Project (January 2007-December 2009) was a collaborative effort with Beyond Shelter, L.A. County departments, and two local housing authorities, intended to address escalating family homelessness in L.A.'s Skid Row neighborhood, a dangerous and unhealthy environment for homeless parents with young children. The report reveals a high program success rate despite serving one of the most challenging and dysfunctional subgroups of homeless families in L.A. County.

According to the report, 80% percent of enrolled households (241 out of 300) were able to move into affordable, rental housing in residential neighborhoods located throughout L.A. County, primarily through negotiations with private landlords and rent subsidies. At least 25% moved into permanent housing with their own lease agreements for the first time in their lives. All families received a minimum of six months of social services support after they moved in. The overall housing retention rate was 97% six to twelve months after families were placed into housing.

Click here to download the press release on the report and here for the full report and executive summary.

Raquel Rolnik, an independent expert on housing issues appointed by the United Nations, visited Los Angeles on November 2-4, 2009, as part of a seven-city tour investigating housing conditions in the United States. Ms Rolnik was appointed last year by the United Nations Human Rights Council to monitor individual country compliance with international laws and treaties recognizing the human right to adequate housing. The "official" part of her visit included meetings with public officials in Washington, DC and the six other localities, while the "unofficial" part of the visit included meetings and other activities with community-based organizations.

As a member of the LA Planning Committee, Beyond Shelter helped to coordinate three days of activities and site visits for the Special Rapporteur. As part of the bus tour of different sections of the Los Angeles area, agency staff took Ms. Rolnik to two substandard "shelters" in South Los Angeles, one low-cost motel and one private, for-profit "pay shelter." Ms Rolnik was shown the dangerous, crowded, and undignified conditions that homeless families who cannot access publicly-funded, facility-based programs must endure in order to have a roof over their heads, if only temporary. The picture below features Ms. Rolnik and Tanya Tull, Beyond Shelter President/CEO, speaking with a homeless mother sitting on her bed at a "pay shelter."

Tanya Tull also participated in a Town Hall meeting at the California Endowment as part of the Los Angeles visit. The purpose of the event was to allow the Special Rapporteur to hear directly from community members impacted by housing rights violations, including slum conditions and predatory lending, as well as from community-based organizations advocating for better housing conditions and protections for vulnerable populations. Tanya spoke about the recent rise in family homelessness in Los Angeles, and shared a video of client testimonies of their experiences as homeless parents.

In Spring 2010 Ms. Rolnik will formally present the findings from her U.S. visit in a report to the UN General Assembly.

In October 2009, Nicole Richie and Joel Madden broke ground for the Richie-Madden Children's Playground at Beyond Shelter's Broadway Village II. This new playground will provide a safe place to play for young children from formerly homeless families who live in the Broadway Village II apartment complex and also for children from homeless families and low-income families who come to the Karsten Neighborhood Resource Center with their parents, seeking food, shelter, and help for other special needs.

The funding for this playground was made possible by The Richie-Madden Children's Foundation, and donors from all over the US through a text-to-donate campaign.

On June 25, 2009, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the Chair of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, introduced House Resolution 582 supporting the right to housing for all children together with their families. The resolution affirms that housing for children is not just a value we share as Americans, it is a basic human right.

In its press release, the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP) acknowledged that the resolution comes as a result of persistent advocacy by a number of organizations, including Beyond Shelter, the LA Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, and University of Southern California Professor Ralph Fertig.

Beyond Shelter is pleased to have partnered with the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and local advocates in this effort, and echoes the words of Maria Foscarinis, Executive Director of NLCHP, who stated: "We thank Rep. Waters for her attention to the housing needs of America's most vulnerable families. The lack of affordable, permanent housing is the primary cause of family homelessness. No child should have to be homeless in America.  No family should have to choose between paying the rent and putting food on the table. And no family should have to give up their children to the state simply because they are homeless. For a country that proclaims family values, we fail to value families."

Beyond Shelter looks forward to working with our local and national partners and with Rep. Waters to pass this important resolution. To read Rep. Waters' press release, click here.  To read NLCHP's press release, click here.

On March 28, 2009, at L.A. Southwest College, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chair of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, held the first in a series of national Congressional field hearings on the crisis in affordable housing.

Beyond Shelter President/CEO Tanya Tull testified at the hearing on the affordable housing and family homelessness crises in Los Angeles and the need to promote and protect the human right to housing of all persons. In addition, a formerly homeless mother who was assisted back into permanent housing by Beyond Shelter spoke on the importance of preserving and expanding the Federal Section 8 Program.

During the hearing, Rep. Waters committed to introducing a resolution in Congress proclaiming a right to housing for children. The lack of affordable housing is a leading cause of children being removed from homeless families by child welfare agencies.

Beyond Shelter has been working with our national and local partners, including the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, Professor Ralph Fertig of the USC School of Social Work, and the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, to draft the right to housing resolution.

To read the testimonies of Tanya Tull and other expert witnesses, please click here .

On February 12, 2009, the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), one of Beyond Shelter's key partners, honored the historical contributions of Tanya Tull and Beyond Shelter to national efforts to end family homelessness. During a luncheon ceremony at NAEH's Annual Conference on Ending Family Homelessness, held in San Diego, CA, NAEH President Nan Roman recognized the important role Tull and Beyond Shelter have played in impacting policy and practice nationwide, including pioneering the Housing First, or rapid re-housing, approach for homeless families.

More than 100 volunteers from the Wasserman Foundation and Wasserman Media Group joined Beyond Shelter and organizers from KaBOOM!, along residents of the South Los Angeles community on December 4th to build a new, safe playground at Beyond Shelter's Broadway Village I Apartments and Neighborhood Resource Center in South LA. The new playground's design is based on drawings provided by children who attended a Design Day event in September.

Beyond Shelter is proud to have been selected by The Wasserman Foundation and Wasserman Media Group as a funding partner for this project.

The new playground will provide more than 1,000 children in the community with a safe place to play every year. The playground will serve residents at Beyond Shelter's Broadway Village I apartments, as well the children whose parents are receiving services at the adjacent Neighborhood Resource Center. The playspace is the first built by KaBOOM! and the Wasserman Foundation, and one of more than 215 KaBOOM! has built across the country in 2008 in an effort to provide a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.

On May 8, 2008, Beyond Shelter celebrated its 20th Anniversary with a spectacular party at Paramount Studios. Over 400 guests helped us share the festivities. The Awards ceremony, in the Paramount Theatre, was hosted by KNBC newscaster Kim Baldonado. Inspiration Awards were given to our honorees: Rabbi Zoe Klein accepted the award to Temple Isaiah for their outstanding social justice work; Nicole Richie presented the award to Baby2Baby founders, Marnie Owens, Lee Michel and Karis Jagger, for their generous contributions for mothers and children; and the Honorable Jan Perry gave the award to JoAnne Yokota for her 25 years of affordable housing advocacy and for serving as Executive Director of Beyond Shelter Housing Development Corporation for seven years. Additional awards were presented to Tanya Tull and Beyond Shelter honoring two decades of helping homeless and low-income families in Los Angeles.

A touching and emotional film was screened, featuring the stories of several formerly homeless families that have been helped by Beyond Shelter over the years. Everyone then "walked the red carpet" into the party, held in a beautiful tent surrounding the Paramount Fountain. Guests enjoyed fabulous wines, scrumptious ethnic food stations and dancing. There was also a wonderful silent auction of many one-of-a-kind items. Funds raised at the event help support the vital services Beyond Shelter provides to homeless families.

In March 2006, Beyond Shelter re-activated the Los Angeles City/County Coordinating Council for Homeless Families (LACCCHF) in response to the growing problem of family homelessness.

Comprised of representatives from public and private agencies and coalitions, the Coordinating Council addresses the coordination and improvement of services delivery to end and prevent family homelessness in L.A. County. Its membership includes representatives from over 50 governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and regional homeless coalitions. Monthly meetings provide an opportunity to bring together individuals and agencies who may not normally communicate and to foster shared dialogue, idea development, and cross-agency collaboration.

The LACCCHF mission statement is as follows:

The Los Angeles City/County Coordinating Council for Homeless Families is a working group of governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and individuals dedicated to ending family homelessness by increasing access to housing and improving services delivery.  The goal is to implement the family recommendations of the L.A. 10 Year Campaign to End Homelessness.  The Coordinating Council is committed to a human rights based approach to addressing family homelessness, including, but not limited to, the promotion of housing as a basic human right.

Council goals include:

• Evaluating existing key services and resources
  
• Improving utilization and coordination of those services and resources
  
• Identifying and advocating for additional services and resources when needed

To learn more about the LA Coordinating Council for Homeless Families, please click here .

"Homes should be social concern, not commodity" (San Francisco Chronicle, November 10, 2009, page A-14), discussing a United Nations tour of unsafe, substandard family shelters and slum housing in Los Angeles, organized by Beyond Shelter and other members of the local planning committee.

Read the Los Angeles Times' article, The Next Step Toward Home, about how Tanya Tull helps homeless families go beyond temporary shelter and into housing in residential neighborhoods.

Read the Los Angeles Times' article, Home Maker, about Tanya Tull, Beyond Shelter founder and President/CEO, as she reflects on what her life's work is all about.

"The American Nightmare: More Families Living on the Edge of Homelessness," (Affordable Housing Finance Magazine, January 2007), featuring a segment on Beyond Shelter.

"Housing Plus Services: Supporting Vulnerable Families in Permanent Housing," (PDF) by Carol S. Cohen, Elizabeth Mulroy, Tanya Tull, Catherine White, and Sheila Crowley. Featured in a special September/October 2004 edition of Child Welfare, a publication of the Child Welfare League of America. To order the entire edition, click here

Learn more about Beyond Shelter's founder and President/CEO Tanya Tull and how she started the agency in "Tull Lends a Hand to the Homeless," which was featured in The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles on June 25, 2004.

Find out more about the Housing First Methodology in The "Housing First" Approach For Families Affected by Substance Abuse (PDF) an article written by Tanya Tull, Beyond Shelter President/CEO. Reprinted from the Spring 2004 edition of The Source, a publication of The National Abandoned Infants Assistance Resource Center.

Read the Los Angeles Times' article, Plight of Kids Without Homes,  written by Tanya Tull, Beyond Shelter President/CEO, and Ruth Schwartz, Executive Director of Shelter Partnership (March 6, 2004).