Seeing Unhoused Seniors in the South Bay

Idea by LTSC Community Development Corporation

Unhoused Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders in the South Bay are overlooked and too often forgotten. Existing service providers do not have the language capacity to serve them. LTSC will develop the capacity of a trusted organization, SoCal PICRT, to fill this service desert.

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What is the primary issue area that your application will impact?

Affordable housing and homelessness

In which areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?

South Bay

In what stage of innovation is this project, program, or initiative?

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

What is your understanding of the issue that you are seeking to address?

Older adults are one of the fastest-growing groups experiencing homelessness, driven by rising rents, fixed incomes, and unexpected crises. Stigma and language barriers make it difficult for older adults to access homeless services. This is especially true in the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander community (AANHPI). Stigma of homelessness is so great within this community that eligible individuals will not self-identify as “homeless” even to access available services. Further, Census data show that older AANHPIs in Los Angeles have a high rate of Limited English Proficiency LEP making it that much harder to access services. In the South Bay area of Los Angeles County homeless AANHPI seniors have very few resources. They are underserved and overlooked in this services desert. Increasing the reach and expertise of the few established service providers in the South Bay will fill the gap.

Describe the project, program, or initiative this grant will support to address the issue.

LTSC and its partner Southern California Pacific Islander Community Response Team (SoCal PICRT) will work together to increase services for the unhoused Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander community (AANHPI) in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County. The project brings together LTSC’s longstanding work in the Japanese and Korean immigrant communities and bilingual case management infrastructure with SoCal PICRT’s trusted relationships and outreach in NHPI communities that was developed during the Covid-19 pandemic. LTSC and SoCal PICRT will work together to establish a robust care support program that SoCal PICRT will implement for their community. LTSC will provide training to SoCal PICRT staff in core case management practices as part of a broader effort to develop a shared continuum of care between the two organizations. LTSC’s senior social services staff will provide hands-on training, mentorship, and tools to help establish a sustainable and culturally responsive case management model. This collaborative approach will strengthen coordination across organizations, support warm handoffs, and lay the foundation for integrated housing and behavioral health services that are tailored to the specific needs and experiences of the AANHPI community.

Describe how Los Angeles County will be different if your work is successful.

If the project is successful, SoCal PICRT will increase its capacity to serve its community. SoCal PICRT will have the skills to outreach to their community and provide the services the community needs. SoCal PICRT will build on the work they started during Covid-19 and adapt their services to meet the current needs in the South Bay, specifically homelessness. In the long term, the South Bay area of Los Angeles County will have a capable service provider specifically for the NHPI community. Limited English speaking NHPI unhoused community members will have a resource to access and help them move into stable housing. With one year of measurable success, SoCal PICRT will be able to approach other sources of funding to support the program moving forward. Potentially the program will reduce homelessness in the NHPI community in the South Bay.

Approximately how many people will be impacted by this project, program, or initiative?

Direct Impact: 15

Indirect Impact: 1,000

LTSC Community Development Corporation

For over 30 years LTSC has been serving the Japanese/Japanese American community in the Greater Los Angeles area as the only regional provider of bilingual and bicultural social services. LTSC reaches 18,000 people each year. A significant proportion of our clients come to us from the broader Japanese/Japanese American community members who seek services such as child abuse prevention, consumer education, senior services, case management, individual and family counseling, and cultural education for children and youth.

As part of our community development work, LTSC has made significant efforts to revitalize Little Tokyo into a vibrant community. LTSC has worked in partnership with other entities to designate a major portion of Little Tokyo as a National Historic Landmark. LTSC has renovated and upgraded three buildings in the historic district:

*San Pedro Firm Building. This 1923 building was threatened with demolition by the City but quick action by LTSC and community advocates saved the building. After a $3 million renovation, it now provides 42 units of safe, clean, affordable housing to low-income seniors and other residents, and commercial space to longstanding and new small businesses.

*Old Union Church Building. Immediately next-door to the San Pedro Firm Building is the historic Old Union Church, one of the earliest Japanese American Christian church structures built in Los Angeles. In the 1970’s, the church congregation relocated and the aging building suffered in the ensuing years from neglect. Again LTSC led the effort to raise $4 million to bring this building back to life and now this once abandoned space is The Union Center for the Arts. *The Historic Far East Building with its famous Far East CafÃ© is located in the heart of the Little Tokyo Historic District, bearing witness to the birth, growth and development of what was, during its heyday in the 1920s and 30s, the largest Japanese American community in the mainland United States. After suffering severe damage during the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the building’s future was uncertain, possibly taking with it all of its history. LTSC was able to save the building to keep this part of Little Tokyo’s history alive. *Casa Heiwa. Additionally, in 1996 LTSC completed the first new family-oriented housing project to be built in Little Tokyo in over 70 years. Through LTSC’s community organizing efforts we have established relationships with Little Tokyo residents and have taught them to collectively and formally represent their concerns. Moreover, we have worked with residents to develop a model for community involvement in planning. With our support and guidance, the residents have lobbied for two crosswalks, a post office and helped successfully fight to preserve affordable housing at a 100-unit building. They have also lobbied against a proposed 500-bed jail and have fought to limit bail bonds businesses in the area.

Organization website
LTSC.org
Learn about this organization’s budget, leadership and mission
charitynavigator.org

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