Homeless families allowed to remain in local motels
LANCASTER — Families staying in local motels with vouchers from Valley Oasis received a temporary reprieve Wednesday and will be able to remain at the motels through the first two weeks of the new year.
Valley Oasis assists 89 families experiencing homelessness with vouchers funded through the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA. The homeless services agency has seen a dramatic drop in funding from Measure H due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Measure H is the voter-approved quarter-cent sales tax initiative, which generates funds for the specific purposes of funding homeless services and shortterm housing. The families had received notice early this week that they would be put out on the street Sunday due to a lack of funds for the vouchers.
Parent Tiffany Blount has a nine-month baby born premature with underlying health conditions and a 16-year-old son.
“The city has contacted me and told me we don’t have to leave,” Blount said Wednesday.
Blount thanked Lancaster, Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Valley Oasis, the Los Angeles Housing Services Authority and the other agencies for their help.
“I want to express my thanks
to our mayor for stepping in,” Blount said. “The kids are writing letters to the mayor to thank him for saving their home. A Avenue B lot of these kids all they want for Christmas is a place to live.”
Officials with Valley Oasis, LAHSA and Barger’s office continued to work to help the families after the notices went out. The emergency funding Avenue G will cover the families’ vouchers through Jan. 15.
“LAHSA and the county are looking for additional funds,” Valley Oasis CEO Car-Crabson said Thursday.
Valley Oasis has continued to work with its families and has been pretty successful for far, Crabson said. The agency
Lake Los Angeles has seven families it is working
Palmdale Blvd. with to relocate with family and friends. Another five families are waiting to hear from friends. Another client moved out Thursday after she found housing.
“We’re moving forward. We don’t want to be sitting here in the same place on Jan. 15,” Crabson said.
“It is one of my highest priorities to provide critical services and housing to families experiencing homelessness, Barger said in a statement. “When we became aware of the immediate challenges that Valley Oasis was facing to keep families in motels, we mounted an all-hands-on-deck approach to ensure that families currently utilizing motel vouchers through Valley Oasis would not be exited back into homelessness. In partnership with Valley Oasis, LAHSA and the LA County Homeless Initiative, we were able to come together to identify immediate resources to continue to provide vouchers to families currently residing in motels. We’re also exploring long-term remedies to provide Valley Oasis with the support and resources they need to continue to serve families in the Antelope Valley.
“I appreciate the sense of urgency and partnership it took to craft immediate solutions to keep families in their housing through the holidays and beyond. We will continue to work with these families to identify long-term solutions for permanent housing and with our service providers, like Valley Oasis, to ensure that new families who enter our system are able to access resources during their time of need. If we invest in the County’s vulnerable now, I believe we can end cycles of generational poverty and homelessness for good.”