Bridging Gaps in Recuperative Care

Affordable housing and homelessness

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)

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

The city of Los Angeles is a cultural metropolis, and an industrial marvel which is strongly juxtaposed to its status as the city with the second largest homeless population. National Health Foundation aims to address the issues that arise from the intersection of housing and health. This intersection provides an interesting compilation of issues for those who are facing both housing issues and health issues. Often, people who are unhoused are discharged from the hospital straight to the streets with no continuum of care in place. Health issues are exacerbated as unhoused folx return to the streets or to unreliable shelter, leading to greater issues for the individuals. These issues can result in debilitating or fatal conditions, putting unhoused people at high risk of harm. In a city with the second highest GDP (gross domestic product) in the United States, the need for reform is apparent as more and more people end up unhoused year after year.

National Health Foundation is requesting support in order to bridge the gap in care between discharge and permanent or semi-permanent housing. NHF aims to hire one new housing navigator to help connect guests to more stable forms of housing after being discharged from the facilities. Housing navigators are crucial for any given community to reduce homelessness and healthcare spending. Housing navigators can help a community grow and offer safety and security for those who need it. Our aim in expanding NHF’s housing navigation program is to create an access pipeline in between National Health Foundations recuperative care guests and permanent housing. Already having 1 housing navigator, we will hire 1 additional person to oversee the connection of guests to permanent housing. This person will receive training and be managed by our current Director of Social Services.

Successful implementation of hiring an additional housing navigator for our recuperative care guests will have a plethora of benefits across LA county. Housing navigators are central to ensuring permanent solutions for unhoused folks. By adding an additional housing navigator, we will be able to bridge current gaps in care. Success with hiring an additional housing navigator will look like each of our guests getting housed in semi-permanent or permanent housing. NHF has a commitment that no guest who passes through our doors will return to the streets after our services. By hiring an additional housing navigator we will be better equipped to ensure that more people are housed and off of the streets of Los Angeles County. In the long term we hope to see the continuum of care between health services and housing services within the NHF model.