PACOIMA : Apartments Open for Poor, Mentally Ill

The San Fernando Valley’s first affordable apartment house for the mentally disabled and indigent opens today on a hilltop in Pacoima, giving 50 formerly homeless residents a permanent home--and access to health and social services.

Hillview Village, a 50-unit, $5.6-million facility on 2.4 acres at 12408 Van Nuys Blvd., cost more than originally projected, but its managers say the price is well worth it.

The project was funded through a combination of public and private loans. The city of Los Angeles contributed more than $3 million to the nonprofit Valley Housing Foundation, one of two partners in the project.

City housing officials grumbled about additional costs incurred in the construction of the two-story building. But in October, the City Council voted to waive $409,000 in interest on one of two city loans for the project.

“This kind of housing is absolutely essential if people with mental disabilities are going to learn how to function in society,” said Dr. Eva McCraven, assistant director of Hillview Mental Health Center in Lake View Terrace, the other partner in the project.

“The difference is that this is permanent. Other housing for homeless mentally ill people has been available, but it’s either been transitional in nature or tied closely to treatment services.”

The new Hillview center will offer services to homeless people who are disabled but capable of independent living, including counseling, medication and other assistance. But tenants will not be forced into treatment programs, McCraven stressed.

“Typical housing arrangements for this population just promote institutionalization and dependency,” McCraven said. “They reinforce that the clients must have supervision, must have roommates, can have no choice about where they can go or when. It keeps people in the mode of mental illness. This apartment house is the beginning of something new.”

The apartments are small--ranging from 280 square feet for a single with a bathroom and access to a community kitchen, to 550 square feet for a one-bedroom unit with its own kitchen. The rents will be low, ranging from about $266 to $350 per month.

There are no other permanent housing facilities for the homeless and mentally disabled in the Valley, and only three other facilities in the city.

But more may be on the way, according to health officials, who cite studies showing that permanent housing reduces patients’ dependence on treatment in the long run.