NORTH HOLLYWOOD : $80,000 to Help in Housing Counseling
Better Valley Services will receive an $80,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide counseling for renters and prospective homeowners in and around Los Angeles County.
The award, funded by HUD’s housing counseling grant program, will provide counseling for about 500 clients a month, Irene Gizzi, manager of the North Hollywood-based nonprofit program, said Wednesday.
“This is the largest grant we have ever been awarded,” Gizzi said. She said the ongoing counseling program was in danger of ending without the funds, which will kick in in October.
The program, which began in 1986, provides counseling for seniors, the disabled and the impoverished on how to rent low-income housing.
Counselors also work with prospective home buyers and sellers and provide mediation services between tenants and landlords to prevent people from losing their homes.
Founded in 1973, Better Valley Services is a homeless and human services program that also provides referrals to food banks and other services to about 25,000 clients each year.
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