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Housing project facing change
Plan to have the nonprofit PATH Achieve run local transitional facility is called a ‘win-win.’
By Jason Wells
CITY HALL — Glendale’s largest homeless services provider, PATH Achieve, is poised to expand its reach if the Housing Authority today approves a plan that would allow the nonprofit to take over a 13-unit transitional housing project for the Glendale YWCA.
The plan is being hailed as a win-win situation for both organizations because PATH Achieve more easily fits the mold of federal homeless funding requirements and is in a better position to meet rigorous program outcomes that the YWCA, which deals primarily with domestic violence issues, has had a harder time meeting, service providers said.
And the housing project better fits the mold of services offered by PATH Achieve, said Kathie Mathis, director of domestic violence programs for the YWCA.
“From our standpoint, it only makes sense that we have PATH Achieve be able to handle the transitional housing program,” Mathis said. “This is really a win-win for both agencies, as well as the community.”
The operations reshuffle would be considered an expansion of existing housing facilities for homeless, single mothers and their children, and not as a loss of housing stock for domestic violence victims, since all local women who seek safe havens from their abusers are already sent out of Glendale, Mathis said.
If the plan is approved, PATH Achieve would dedicate 25% of the facility to homeless single mothers who are also dealing with domestic violence issues, according to the proposal.
“We’re really pleased about this additional resource,” said Natalie Profant-Komuro, executive director of PATH Achieve Glendale.
Since victims of domestic violence will continue to be housed at the complex, its location will remain a secret, city officials said.
The facility will also not accept men or two-parent families in order to address the safety concerns that typically accompany the single women, Profant-Komuro said. Families with men will continue to be serviced at PATH Achieve’s emergency shelter on San Fernando Court before being fitted to other existing transitional housing programs.
But many of the homeless families that PATH Achieve services are single moms, and according to a city report, the operations switch reflects a changing reality on the ground. The number of women and children in Glendale that are homeless as a result of domestic violence has decreased from 110 in 2006, to 43 in 2007.
At the same time, the number of single-mother homeless families in general has increased from 96 in 2006 to 137 in 2007, according to the city’s most recent needs assessment survey.
While the YWCA has been serving the domestic-abuse-related homeless population at the facility, it has had to turn away potential clients that don’t fit that criteria because it lacks the resources to treat those who have issues with alcohol, drugs or mental illness, Mathis said. As a more comprehensive homeless services provider, PATH Achieve would be able to serve future clients who aren’t victims of domestic abuse, she said.
In doing so, the nonprofit will also assume the financial responsibilities of putting up $57,000 in private donations to match the $217,000 in annual federal assistance for the facility, according to the proposal.
“We really need to be getting more funding in from the community,” Profant-Komuro said.
PATH Achieve would take over as a recipient of the grant and be up for a new contract Nov. 1 if the transition is approved today.
The two agencies have been working on facilitating the transition over the past few weeks.
The city is hoping to broker a complete transition before July 1, said Jess Duran, assistant director of the Community Development and Housing Department.
Even if the Housing Authority approves the plan, it will still need to pass final review by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Housing Authority meets at 2:30 p.m. today in City Council Chambers, 613 E. Broadway.
JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.
The plan is being hailed as a win-win situation for both organizations because PATH Achieve more easily fits the mold of federal homeless funding requirements and is in a better position to meet rigorous program outcomes that the YWCA, which deals primarily with domestic violence issues, has had a harder time meeting, service providers said.
And the housing project better fits the mold of services offered by PATH Achieve, said Kathie Mathis, director of domestic violence programs for the YWCA.
“From our standpoint, it only makes sense that we have PATH Achieve be able to handle the transitional housing program,” Mathis said. “This is really a win-win for both agencies, as well as the community.”
The operations reshuffle would be considered an expansion of existing housing facilities for homeless, single mothers and their children, and not as a loss of housing stock for domestic violence victims, since all local women who seek safe havens from their abusers are already sent out of Glendale, Mathis said.
If the plan is approved, PATH Achieve would dedicate 25% of the facility to homeless single mothers who are also dealing with domestic violence issues, according to the proposal.
“We’re really pleased about this additional resource,” said Natalie Profant-Komuro, executive director of PATH Achieve Glendale.
Since victims of domestic violence will continue to be housed at the complex, its location will remain a secret, city officials said.
The facility will also not accept men or two-parent families in order to address the safety concerns that typically accompany the single women, Profant-Komuro said. Families with men will continue to be serviced at PATH Achieve’s emergency shelter on San Fernando Court before being fitted to other existing transitional housing programs.
But many of the homeless families that PATH Achieve services are single moms, and according to a city report, the operations switch reflects a changing reality on the ground. The number of women and children in Glendale that are homeless as a result of domestic violence has decreased from 110 in 2006, to 43 in 2007.
At the same time, the number of single-mother homeless families in general has increased from 96 in 2006 to 137 in 2007, according to the city’s most recent needs assessment survey.
While the YWCA has been serving the domestic-abuse-related homeless population at the facility, it has had to turn away potential clients that don’t fit that criteria because it lacks the resources to treat those who have issues with alcohol, drugs or mental illness, Mathis said. As a more comprehensive homeless services provider, PATH Achieve would be able to serve future clients who aren’t victims of domestic abuse, she said.
In doing so, the nonprofit will also assume the financial responsibilities of putting up $57,000 in private donations to match the $217,000 in annual federal assistance for the facility, according to the proposal.
“We really need to be getting more funding in from the community,” Profant-Komuro said.
PATH Achieve would take over as a recipient of the grant and be up for a new contract Nov. 1 if the transition is approved today.
The two agencies have been working on facilitating the transition over the past few weeks.
The city is hoping to broker a complete transition before July 1, said Jess Duran, assistant director of the Community Development and Housing Department.
Even if the Housing Authority approves the plan, it will still need to pass final review by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Housing Authority meets at 2:30 p.m. today in City Council Chambers, 613 E. Broadway.
JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.
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