Housing for All: Measure ULA funds in Action!

Affordable housing and homelessness

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

The housing affordability and homelessness crises in Los Angeles are so large that a system shift has long been needed - a push only possible from outside the system. Close to 73% of Angelenos report being rent burdened and our city lacks over 500,000 affordable housing units necessary to meet the need. With typical rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the City of L.A. at $2,115 a month, a renter making minimum wage would need 2.7 full-time jobs not to be rent-burdened in L.A. Every day, families lose their homes and join the growing number of unhoused people living in the city. Overwhelmingly, the most impacted are from low-income and BIPOC and/or immigrant communities. The UHLA coalition has provided the outside push by passing Measure ULA, which has now raised over $300 million in just over a year. However, UHLA must now help ensure these dollars are spent effectively, efficiently and with the urgency Angelenos demand in our great time of need. The challenge now is implementation.

The UHLA coalition designed and passed Measure ULA, which is raising hundreds of millions of dollars each year for affordable housing solutions and homelessness prevention programs. UHLA is now focused on the successful implementation of the eleven ULA programs, a comprehensive array of strategies that span protecting tenants in their homes to preserving existing affordable housing to producing new affordable, social and community-owned housing. In this phase, UHLA’s work includes:
Assisting the City in standing up the ULA Citizens Oversight Committee (COC) through active recruitment for committee members, and providing recommendations on COC operations and governance;
Assembling experts in the fields of homelessness prevention, affordable housing production and affordable housing preservation to craft innovative program designs for ULA’s eleven housing solutions programs. Each program requires a detailed set of guidelines that lay out program structure and, where applicable, eligibility criteria for the funding;
Promoting the opportunities for Angelenos to take advantage of ULA programs; Publicizing the successes of ULA programs through digital, earned and paid media; and
Coordinating a coalition of experts spanning over 150 organizations across the City throughout the implementation process.

The UHLA coalition set its sight on nothing less than transformational change in our housing systems so that we can one day say housing is a real human right. For our work to implement Measure ULA, we seek to achieve the following as part of this project:
11 ULA programs fully established w/ systems and staffing in place necessary for ongoing implementation;
Citizens Oversight Committee is fully-established, staffed and resourced for years to come; and
Housing stability significantly improved for Angelenos across the City as evidenced by a/an:
Reduction of documented evictions through a combination of a right to counsel and rental assistance programs;
Reduction of undocumented evictions resulting from tenant harassment or “self eviction” stemming from a lack of knowledge of tenant rights;
Increase of new affordable housing and social housing;
Increase of housing taken off the speculative market and preserved as affordable housing;
Increased community ownership of housing.

UHLA’s implementation work will be measured at a few scales:
The number of expert organizations active in program design and execution. The UHLA coalition has already engaged 140 organizations in the guidelines process. The successful passage of program guidelines through decision-making bodies. Already, 3 sets of permanent guidelines have completed the first step of approvals. The successful establishment and maintenance of the Citizens Oversight Committee (COC). The UHLA coalition has helped recruit more than half of the COC members and continues to support the outreach efforts as terms expire and transitions occur. The successful launching of ULA programs. During the first year of implementation, UHLA coalition has helped ensure 3 interim programs launch with 3 more soon to follow. Establishment of the ULA Tenant Council, following a similar recruitment and administrative planning process as the COC.