An Imagine LA Family Team Manager serves as the key staff member in facilitating the entire process of the two-year program. The Family Team Manager is the liaison between the faith communities' volunteer teams ("Faith Partner Teams") and their matched families, providing the training, education and resources necessary for volunteers to be effective and to ensure that all family members' needs and goals are addressed.

The ILA Program begins by screening potential families that live in transitional housing facilities. Imagine LA currently partners with nearly 10 transitional housing providers located throughout Los Angeles County that have signed Letters of Agreement and refer families to our program (click here to see a list of Imagine LA's transitional housing partners). Case workers from these agencies understand the Imagine LA program and identify families that fit specific ILA criteria, providing a steady stream of potential program participants.

As families are being screened for our program, participating faith communities ("Faith Partners") assemble their Faith Partner Teams and receive extensive training in homelessness sensitivity and mentorship from their Family Team Manager. Each Faith Partner is eventually matched with a family in close geographic proximity. Then, under the Guidance of the Family Team Manager, the family and Faith Partner Team assess the family's situation and create doable, bite-sized goals in each of the seven key areas of Imagine LA's proprietary Peformance Measurement Matrix (more on the Matrix can be found here). 

With help from the Family Team Manager, Faith Partner Team volunteers provide continuous support to help the family maintain their budget and build life skills that will ensure that each family member achieves his or her goals. Each willing family member over the age of five is matched with a one-to-one mentor. Additionally, a Budget Mentor regularly works with the family, and other Faith Partner Team members come alongside the family to provide tutoring, meal-planning, transportation and more. The Family Team Manager leads the process via weekly conference calls, coaching of the mentors and family members, and site visits. A formal assessment is completed every six months to measure the family's progress.

Resources are vetted and matched to families as appropriate throughout their participation in the program. Notable partnerships with agencies that provide resources and services like job training, financial literacy and health/nutrition education include: West LA Community College, Jewish Vocational Services, Wells Fargo, Venice Family Clinic, Annenberg School of Nursing and ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions.

Check out the full Program Timeline by clicking this link: Program Timeline.pdf.