Casa Amador
Reach For The Top, Inc., (R4TT) is a humanitarian non-profit organization, our goal is to “Provide Hope through Housing”. R4TT, has been serving the community since 2005 providing the basic human needs of food, shelter, and clothing. In our day to day operations we have encountered many homeless single mothers with their children. Casa Amador will assist mothers and their children by creating a space where they can thrive and gain the skill set necessary to become successful, independent, and permanently housed. Casa Amador is a 27 bed apartment building for formerly homeless women and their children. The architectural style combines elements of early twentieth century mixed use design with current technology. The building is three stories tall on a corner facing Adams Boulevard, and two stories with a privacy screen facing the single family dwellings on Palm Grove Avenue in the rear. It is designed to provide an open, light filled environment for families preparing for the future. The units feature an open living room plan with kitchen and either two or three bedrooms and bath. There is a secluded interior courtyard. There is a laundry room, private meeting room and outdoor children’s play area. At the street level are offices, parking and a commercial space. The building and systems are designed to the latest CalGreen and stormwater mitigation and pollution prevention standards. Solar panels and green roof are designed for the roof top. Relationships are built and developed with individuals by creating familiarity through repeated interactions using our food distribution program that is done every Friday thus creating a climate where information can be provided about our program and other social services. By successfully rehabilitating, training, and assisting homeless women and children in the Los Angeles, R4TT would be providing our impoverished community with the tools to become self-sufficient and permanently housed.
What are some of your organization’s most important achievements to date?
Currently R4TT has one lot with three households. On average we work with 30 individuals per month. This our biggest achievement. Every time one of our residents moves into stable permanent housing we have accomplished our goal. Successful reintegration into society is our top priority.
Please identify any partners or collaborators who will work with you on this project.
For this project we will be working with the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program Capital Development and the Community Development Block Grant Program. Both have contributed money, and brought us to the beginning of construction.
We are also involved in food delivery to multiple groups who provide food to those that need it. We work with the Midnight Mission and the Mildred Cursh Foundation for food distribution. We also work with World Visions who provides supplies needed to support our facilities. We will continue to maintain our positive relationships with these groups.
Please explain how you will evaluate your project. How will you measure success?
The plan is to produce a quarterly or biannual report on the programs effectiveness using a spreadsheet software to statistically plot our success rate and number of homeless that have become self-sufficient. Future data collected will include measurements of outcome such as the percentage of residents who are sober at discharge or who have become involved in local addiction recovery programs as well the percentage who become employed and/or establish permanent housing.
How will your project benefit Los Angeles?
The mission of Reach for the Top, Inc., is to address the plight of homeless and provide the support necessary for them to attain the highest level of independence and self-sufficiency to become to become permanently housed. Reach for the Top, Inc., provides transitional housing where clients can stabilize in a safe, nurturing, environment while receiving the assistance necessary to access the services that lead to permanent housing. Our goal is to send healthy, self-confident, competent persons back into society.
This program will help reduce the tax money used to care for the chronically homeless. Our residents will no loner be in jails, Emergency Rooms, or shelter. They will be in their new home, stable, safe and supported. We will assist them in finding permanent housing.
The proposed location of Casa Amador, 4801 West Adams was involved in the civil unrest of 1992. Almost 84% of commercial structures and 83% of residential structures were in need of repair, according to a California Redevelopment Association survey done in 1995. By developing this lot, it will aesthetically change the characteristics of this blighted area, encourage outside investment and provide much needed services to a neglected community.
Providing stable transitional housing for the chronically homeless population that will also offer resources so residents can learn new skills, find employment, and finally find permanent housing will benefit the area greatly. These individuals will be supported so that they can succeed. Their success will bring hope to the neighborhood and elevate the entire area.
This project specifically deals with women and children. For the children living at our facility they will have a better start to their day; providing them with the foundation to succeed in school and life. this will set them on the track to grow into conscientious citizens.
Lastly our community center will be open to all individuals looking to participate or learn something new. This center will provide a place for people who might be on the edge of poverty. We would provide help to those who need it, keeping the potential homeless in their homes.
What would success look like in the year 2050 regarding your indicator?
Our new facility will be a prototype of successful environmentally sustainable, affordable housing. Hopefully by this time there will be facilities even move advanced and comfortable than ours, that are providing a safe place for homeless. They will be stewards of environmentalism and innovative ways of alleviating homelessness. The residents of the facilities and previous residents will be thriving citizens, impacting our society in positive ways.
More importantly, the children who came with their mother's to our facility will be grown adults, potentially with children of there own. With the life skills and support provided by us they will be able to successful in their adult lives. They will be socially and environmentally aware helping other as they, themselves were helped. Our future is these children and with our facility it should be a bright one.