Central Los Angeles : Housing to Aid Disabled and Their Families

For the disabled, finding affordable housing has been hard enough. Finding it for the entire family, and in East Los Angeles, has been all but impossible.

By next October, two dozen families with disabled relatives will have the accommodations they need on Dozier Street and Dangler Avenue, in the first project of its kind to be funded by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development in East Los Angeles.

Ground was broken on the project last week.

HUD gave a $2.75-million grant to the Crippled Children’s Society of Southern California to finance the 24-unit complex, which includes apartments with one to three bedrooms.

“East Los Angeles has historically been an underserved area for disabled housing,” said Bernard Sandalow, spokesman for the society. “It’s going to encourage, we hope, more Latino families to avail themselves of our services.”

In addition, the society plans to launch a campaign to finance a $3.5-million community center next to the apartments.

Together, the apartments and community center will be the centerpiece of Los Angeles County’s Maravilla Redevelopment Plan.