CV NEWS FEED // The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has decided to address the housing crisis in LA by developing affordable housing for young adults.
News agency LA-ist reports that the Archdiocese is partnering with a newly founded non-profit called Our Lady Queen of Angels Housing Alliance. They are building apartments for former foster care youth and community college students on property the Diocese owns near L.A. City College.
Twenty percent of the apartments will be set aside for youth transitioning out of foster care, as one in four of these youths experience homelessness in California. The rates for these youths will be set between $400 and $500.
The effort is a response to California’s bill SB 4, which allows religious organizations and colleges to bypass certain local restrictions to build affordable housing on their own properties.
The executive director of Queen of Angels Housing, Amy Anderson, was L.A.’s Chief Housing Officer under former Mayor Eric Garcetti. She explained that while SB 4 made the project possible, Catholics had been considering how to address the housing crisis long before then.
“We’re losing a generation of people to housing insecurity,” said Anderson. “It’s very difficult for people to live in health — mental health, physical health — and for them to get ahead when there’s no physical foundation, no home for which to do that.”
She mentioned that the non-profit is also looking into using underused parish parking lots, former convents, and former schools.
Archbishop Jose Gomez, who chairs the non-profit’s board, said, “Through Catholic Charities… we have been working for many years to provide shelter and services for our homeless brothers and sisters,” adding that the new project opened “exciting possibilities to make more affordable housing available, especially for families and young people.”
