Homeless Program Extends Services Under New Grants

A pilot project that moved intoxicated and addicted homeless people off downtown Van Nuys streets and into assistance programs has received two grants to continue operations in the Valley.

The Homeless Outreach Team (HOT), which operates near the civic center, will receive one federal grant of $30,000 through the city’s Targeted Neighborhood Initiative.

That money will continue the program in Van Nuys for six more months, said John Horn, the L.A. Family Housing Corp. coordinator who supervises the team. The program uses formerly homeless outreach workers in the Van Nuys Targeted Neighborhood Initiative area, which is roughly bounded by Vanowen Street, Hazeltine Avenue, Sepulveda Boulevard and Bessemer Street.

An additional, $43,000 grant from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority will extend the program Valleywide starting about mid-July, Horn said.

The need for Valleywide outreach was evident, Horn said, when Los Angeles Police Department officers from areas beyond Van Nuys would drop off intoxicated homeless to the outreach team.

The pilot program, which ran from March to June, has already made an impact, officials said. About 60 homeless people were taken to a “sobering station” at the Valley shelter, and about 30 to 40 of those people were then placed in drug or alcohol detox programs and residential recovery and shelter programs, Horn said.

Many shelters won’t accept homeless people who are intoxicated, or require a 48-hour “clean and sober” period, so the outreach program “fills a major gap” Horn said.

Part of the success of the pilot program is the community’s involvement, said Rosalind Stewart, deputy to Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski. Local residents and businesses, she said, identified the need to do something about the homeless, and from there Miscikowski, Mayor Richard Riordan and the city’s Planning Department helped find funding.