Work Begins on Housing for Homeless Women

Sister Julia Mary, who runs Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women, is watching a symbol of hope slowly emerge from a once crime-ridden pocket of land in Central Los Angeles.

Construction of Women’s Village, a housing facility and service center for homeless women and children, started this month, thanks in part to recently awarded federal funding. It will house 70 people.

Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, the nonprofit group that operates Good Shepherd, was awarded a $1.2-million grant last week from the federal Housing and Urban Development Department to help fund the $10.5-million project.

“The women need a community,” Sister Julia Mary said. “Few have family. The village would not only bring women and children together for shelter. In a village environment, they can relate to others as family, supporting one another as they rebuild their lives toward self-sufficiency.”

The village is being constructed on a 60,000-square-foot lot at 1650 Rockwood Blvd., a residential area just west of downtown, in three phases.

The first phase will include renovation of an existing Craftsman-style house to use as a social services center and construction of a 32-unit transitional housing facility. Next, a 13-unit permanent housing building and small playground will be built for disabled mothers and children.

The last phase includes building another permanent housing facility for disabled homeless women, with a thrift store and coffee shop where women can learn job skills.

The village is scheduled for completion in the fall of 1997.

Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women, which started in 1984, serves more than 4,000 women and children yearly at its emergency shelter and drop-in center in Los Angeles and another shelter in Hollywood.