A Family Homeless No More : North Hollywood: Robert and Carolyn Burns will be the first to move into a new, $2.2-million low-income apartment complex.

Without a job or even a place to live, Robert and Carolyn Burns spent some nights this year huddled in their 1972 Buick with their 5-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.

On Tuesday, however, the Burns family put that life behind them and prepared to settle into a new two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in North Hollywood.

“I’ve done quite a bit of worrying and wondering what was going to happen,” said Robert Burns, 27, as he sat in the complex’s courtyard. “This has taken a lot of worries off of my shoulders.”

The Burns clan is the first of 17 families expected to move in the next month into the $2.2-million Harmony Place--a white stucco building that joins a row of apartment complexes on Harmony Avenue in the North Hollywood Redevelopment Project area.

The low-income apartment complex was developed by L.A. Family Housing Corp., a nonprofit agency that provides emergency shelter and permanent housing to homeless people throughout the city. Federal rent subsidies will help homeless people get back on their feet. The Burns family, for example, will pay only $345 a month in rent.

The Community Redevelopment Agency loaned the family housing corporation $1.5 million to develop the two-story complex. Another $700,000 was loaned by California Community Reinvestment Corp., a nonprofit consortium of 58 banks.

The agency has invested $10 million in North Hollywood for low-income housing, building 500 units and fixing up 901 existing ones.

“I think a project like this sends a message that instead of being concerned about bricks and mortar, the real concern is for human needs,” said Donald R. Spivack, director of operations for the redevelopment agency.

To qualify for an apartment in Harmony Place, families must meet federal guidelines that state they must be homeless, living in substandard or transitional housing, or paying more than 50% of their income on rent, said Jeffrey S. Farber, director of social services for the L.A. Family Housing Corp.

Also, they must fall within guidelines for income and family size, he said. For instance, a family of four must make no more than $24,000, he said.

As they sat in the apartment complex courtyard on Tuesday, Robert and Carolyn Burns, 23, said 1993 already promises to be better than this year, when Robert Burns was laid off in January from his job as a security guard in Florida.

Unable to find work, the Burns family moved to California. The family lived three months with Carolyn Burns’ parents in Sunland until the house became too crowded, Robert Burns said.

They eventually sought help at the Valley Shelter run by the L.A. Family Housing Corp. The family lived there for three months, starting a savings plan and receiving employment counseling, Robert Burns said. They have also been saving money for furniture.

Robert Burns got a job about a month ago at a San Fernando sheet metal plant. The family has been living since then in a temporary low-cost housing complex run by the housing corporation.

Now, Robert and Carolyn Burns said, they are eager to settle into the new apartment and set up their own home.

“I’d like to show my wife and kids a good time,” Robert Burns said. “We might be able to save now--save up enough money for a house.”