• 97% of these families are headed by single women with an average of two to four children. 
  
• Many of these women are struggling with a history that includes being a former victim of domestic violence, abuse and/or illnesses resulting in loss of employment and housing. 

The journey begins with the inability to pay rent and then leads to eviction, forcing the family into motels, SRO hotels, homeless shelters, friends and relatives, or, ultimately, the  streets. The typical homeless Mom is trying to survive without adequate housing, childcare, and access to support services.  Her children are often uneducated, shuffled from one school to another due to the transient nature of no permanent housing.  Homeless children, more often than not, drop out of school or join gangs.

From a tape recording of an 11-year old girl in an emergency shelter

"You think you know what homeless mean but you don't know nothin' 'bout homeless. You think homeless mean you ain't got no apartment, you ain't got no bed for yourself, ain't got no place to wash off when you soil or you be sweaty.  Well, bein' homeless mean more than that.

It mean you ain't got no next-door neighbor, no best-friend no more. You don't got no favorite place to play, or hide your candy money.  You don't even got your own seat in your own classroom, you be movin' so many time.  Don't know the teacher name.  So who care?  She don't know your name either. 

You ain't got no good memories of holidays or the movies or even rides.  You ain't even got yourself bad memories.  You know why?  You bet you don't!  'Cause one shelter look like the next, and soon you can't remember how long you been in this one or that one.  Anyway, it don't make no difference.  Not after a while it don't.  You know why?  'Cause you be doubling up so many nights in the same bed covers, sharin' the same potty so many nights, that one mornin' you turn into the other person.

So don't tell me you know 'bout homeless kids.  And don't ask me if I understand what happen' to my family bein' we got no home.  They invisible and so is me.  I not here anymore.  I died three years ago.  Hey, you wastin' your time talkin' to a dead person."

 

* Please note that these matters do, indeed, precipitate homeless episodes; however, the underlying cause of extended family homelessness is simply the lack of affordable housing.  Struggling parents in low paying jobs and the decreasing access to available Section 8 or other low-income housing is ultimately a losing situation.  Imagine LA's current programming does not include the development of low-income housing, but we applaud and encourage those efforts.

The Imagine LA SSFH&M program tries to catch families before they have spiraled too far down and give them a long-term lift up.  Imagine LA works with Agencies providing transitional housing (Transitional Housing Partners) to indentify appropriate families before they have to move to the next temporary place.  They find us families with working parents that ultimately have the ability to earn enough to pay rent but given their current lack of funds, credit and eviction history, find themselves in a no-win situation.

In partnership with a Faith Community, the Imagine LA SSFH&M Program gets the family into an apartment they can afford long-term with mentoring (for every member of the family). The Faith Community helps the family find an affordable apartment and if necessary provides funds for the rental deposits.  The Faith Community also moves the family in and provides donated furniture and other necessities to insure that the family can focus on getting their lives back together and feeling a sense of home (as opposed to finding and paying for beds, a couch, towels etc.). 

Each Family has a two year Plan & Budget that guides the Faith Communities efforts.  It identifies volunteer appropriate activities that teach basic life skills, provide mentoring and enrichment activities, provides access to resources that families would not otherwise have.  For example, volunteers help with weekly meal planning, shopping and preparation which are beneficial to the family from a nutritional perspective, a budgeting perspective and a family relationship building perspective.  Each member of the family is provided a mentor that helps them achieve their goals, potential (like getting into college or getting a better job) and have some fun - like learning to swim!  Many families do not have cars and therefore volunteers can help with transportation as well.

Imagine LA families work diligently with their budgeting mentors (every other week) on their budget; both tracking and accounting for all expenses and income.     

In the world of family homelessness today, besides employment, the three largest barriers to achieving lasting independence are the initial cost of obtaining housing, actually securing housing (especially with a record of an eviction or bad credit), and acquiring and maintaining the basic skills and discipline of a self-sufficient life.  The Imagine LA SSFH&M model addresses these barriers and gives Faith Communities an opportunity to participate in charity that begets real change, not just momentary relief.