Homeless services offered
LANCASTER — As the COVID pandemic was spreading across the nation, in 2020, the numbers of homeless people counted in the Antelope Valley jumped 44%.
Local numbers for the most recent count, conducted, earlier this year, are expected in a few weeks, the chairman of the AV Homeless Coalition said.
On Tuesday, the AV Homeless Coalition, a group of dozens of nonprofits that participate in some form of assistance to local homeless, held its first Community Resource Fair on the grounds of Antelope Valley Partners for Health on 10th Street West.
“Last night, 42 groups registered to participate,” Elvia Salazar, co-chair of the Homeless Coalition said.
Early Tuesday, the groups were setting up to provide access to rental assistance, COVID vaccines, showers, meals, some provided by Izzy’s Tacos; legal help, access to housing resources and help finding jobs, Bran- don Scoggan, chair of the Homeless Coalition said.
“This is the event emerging from COVID that says ‘We are back,’” he said. “We want people to know that help is out there.”
By the end of the day’s resource fair, the groups had offered help to 50 families and 150 individuals, Scoggan said.
The group has a Facebook page and QR Code, to help with identifying services, Salazar said.
In 2020, when the Los Angeles County “point in time” count was held, more than 4,700 people were listed as homeless, both sheltered and unsheltered. The count was up 44% from 2019, when about 3,200 people fell into those categories in the Antelope Valley.
The faith-based nonprofit, Hope Of The Valley, rolled up with a mobile shower van. The group offers showers and meals at its access center at True Vine Gospel Church and once a week, goes to encampments to offer showers and water to people camping in the desert.
“We have access to services at the True Vine Gospel Church and we have thrift stores in Palmdale and Lancaster,” Melissa Amezcua-Pinney, senior program director for Hope of the Valley said.
“What is good about our thrift stores is that any donations stay in the Antelope Valley,” she said. “We do housing access assistance. We have been blessed to be able to work with five families, two ready for keys to an apartment and three in the line-up in the last 30 days.”
The San Fernando Valley-based group has been awarded two Sierra Highway motels to overhaul.
Among the organizations participating, in addition to AV Partners for Health, were Antelope Valley Hospital, the Valley Oasis domestic violence agency, the Bartz-Altadonna federally qualified clinic, the fledgling AV Foundation of Health, the cities of Palmdale and Lancaster, the Children’s Bureau, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, 5th District.
As operations opened, more than a dozen families were waiting for vaccination opportunities and to sign up for additional services.