L.A. to Offer Housing to 50 'Most Vulnerable' People

by Ben Bergman, NPR

"Project 50" is oriented around combating chronic homelessness by identifying the 50 people on the streets who are the most vulnerable and then moving them into apartments.

"You can't really solve a problem before you know what it is," says Becky Kanis of the nonprofit group Common Ground, which developed the concept and is now spearheading efforts in southern California.

Kanis, who is director of innovation for the New York-based organization, spends her days trying to change the way people think about homelessness.

"The old approach is really a first come, first serve thing," she says, adding that the problem with that approach is that the people who get the available services usually aren't the ones who need them most.

L.A. County brought Kanis and her team to Skid Row to find the people that would never find them and their services. When Common Ground applied the same technique to New York's Times Square, they found that the number of street homelessness plummeted by 87 percent in two years.

Read the full article over here.

Love LA Chrismas Banquet: 2007

Photos courtesy of Anthony.
Thanks Anthony for the pics!
Here are just a few pics...we'll post some more in the coming weeks.

We want to thank everyone who came out to help- it was awesome!
Merry Christmas ya all!

Live, Work and Pray

As Downtown Grows, New Religious Leaders Come Searching for Their Flocks

by Evan George
Downtown LA News

Three years ago, Kevin Haah received a phone call that changed his life. Then an associate pastor at a large Korean church on the outskirts of Chinatown, Haah was asked what he was doing to reach out - and spread the gospel - to the new people moving to Downtown Los Angeles.
Kevin Haah left a Chinatown ministry to open his own Christian church. Like a handful of other religious leaders, he is targeting the new crop of Downtown residents as his future congregants. Photo by Gary Leonard.

"For some strange reason that conversation never left my head," Haah said.

The question helped spur Haah to action: He has embarked on the long process of founding his own Christian church in Downtown. With his wife and a handful of believers, Haah is scouting locations for what will be called the New City Church of Los Angeles. He said he is considering the newly opened ImaginAsian cinema house on Main Street as a temporary location and is surveying residents as to what kind of worship service they would attend.

Read the full article over here.

LA TIMES: A crack in a safe - and a dent in their lives

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Carla Hall
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
December 4, 2007

"...The mission's bank is a major part of life for those struggling to escape skid row.

Although mission staff usually empty the safe once a month, depositing the contents at nearby City National Bank, many residents choose to keep their money on site. They worry that banks will charge them hidden fees, penalize them for not monitoring their accounts, or allow creditors to tap their savings. One man distrusts banks so much that he insisted his money stay in the safe. He lost more than $10,000 in the burglary, Bales said.

About 1 in 10 households nationwide are "unbanked," according to the latest federal survey of consumer finances. A handful of nonprofits in San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta and other cities offer informal banking services to help fill the gap.

Bales said many mission residents lost about $4,000 in the burglary. The thief also took $16,000 in petty cash and about $1,500 in Christmas gift cards for mission staff, Bales said."

Read the full article over here.

12.09

Only days away...


A look at last year's Christmas Banquet over here