5) Description of housing product/service offering: Founded in 1988, Beyond Shelter's mission is to develop systemic approaches to combat poverty and homelessness among families with children, and to enhance family economic security and well-being. Beyond Shelter's strategies to accomplish its mission are responsive service delivery, people-centered community development, and the creation of knowledge for social change. All three strategies are incorporated in Beyond Shelter's Broadway South Neighborhood Revitalization Project (NRP). The Neighborhood Revitalization Project was launched in 1993, soon after Los Angeles' 1992 Civil Unrest, in direct response to critical housing shortages and social services needs in the area. The 26 census tracts that comprise the target service area of the NRP represent one-fifth of Los Angeles' "very poor" census tracts. The neighborhoods are among the four highest concentrations of urban poverty in the United States, and the only such area on the West Coast. For the NRP, Beyond Shelter has combined revitalization strategies in a holistic approach which includes the development of service-enriched, affordable housing, implementation of neighborhood-based services coordination, the provision of a full array of social services, and involvement of members of the community. With a high concentration of low-income families, including single-parent households, Beyond Shelter has initially concentrated on the development of service-enriched affordable housing for families, while also linking that housing to the development of resources and services for the community at large. Beyond Shelter opened the 30-unit Umoja Apartments in 1996, In 2001, Beyond Shelter opened a childcare and Neighborhood Resource Center nearby (Broadway Village I). Three years later, the 16-unit Broadway Village I apartments were completed. The 50-unit Broadway Village II apts. was completed in July, with a 5,000 sq. ft. Neighborhood Center in development.

6) Description of innovation: Beyond Shelter's programs in Los Angeles, California, serve as a “laboratory for social change.” The two key initiatives being implemented in the Neighborhood Revitalization Project – service-enriched housing and neighborhood-based services coordination - provide the framework for transforming not only the physical environment but also the socio-economic environment as well. The first initiative – service-enriched housing – integrates the provision of “services coordination” into the operation and management of low-income housing for all residents living there. Through housing-based services coordination, residents are provided access to crisis intervention, assistance in accessing resources and services in the community, and the opportunity to participate in the decision making process. Differentiated from supportive housing or special needs housing, services provision is not targeted to special needs populations or individuals unable to live independently without support. Instead, it provides a “safety net” for low-income residents in general and can also focus on helping residents strive for improved social and/or economic well- being. Over the past decade, Beyond Shelter’s “housing based” services coordination has evolved to a neighborhood base, in which all residents of a neighborhood (individuals, families, youth at risk, the elderly and the disabled) have access to “services coordination” through a single point-of-contact. In South Los Angeles, Beyond Shelter is demonstrating the efficacy of such an approach through the addition of Neighborhood Resource Centers within or adjacent to new affordable housing that the agency develops. The financing mechanisms created as a result of the combination of public and private funding for the service-enriched affordable housing developments helps to support construction costs of the Neighborhood Resource Centers.

7) Benefits to clients: The Neighborhood Revitalization Project takes a holistic approach to revitalizing high-poverty, inner-city neighborhoods. Taking the concept of service-enriched housing to scale, Beyond Shelter has adapted the model to a neighborhood base, i.e. “neighborhood-based” services coordination. Through this approach, residents of a neighborhood are provided a single point-of-contact which assists them in accessing resources and services to meet their individual and/or special needs. Strategies to maximize community access to services include: 1) one-stop resource service centers providing crisis intervention, resource and referrals, and access to a broad range of services; 2) a broad network of collaborative linkages with community agencies, programs and resources; and 3) resident participation and community involvement in services planning. In South Los Angeles, Beyond Shelter has accomplished this task through the addition of Neighborhood Resource Centers developed within or adjacent to new affordable housing that the agency is developing, thus expanding “services coordination” to the community at- large. Today, the Neighborhood Revitalization Project's holistic approach includes affordable housing development and preservation, social and health services provision, neighborhood-based services coordination, and the involvement of members of the community in assessments, planning and implementation. Neighborhood-Based Services Coordination adapts the concept of "service coordination" provided from an affordable housing base to all residents of a neighborhood, to improve quality of life and social and economic well-being.

8) Key operational partnerships: The Broadway South Neighborhood Revitalization Project is designed as a holistic approach to improving both the physical and socio-economic environment of high-poverty, inner-city neighborhoods, where housing is substandard and services are fragmented, difficult to access, and often, non-existent. The Neighborhood Revitalization Project's leadership identifies and develops community partnerships on an ongoing basis, and involves residents of the community in the process. Focusing on 26 census tracts along a central corridor in South Los Angeles, the NRP maximizes resources by promoting inter-agency collaboration and partnerships between residents, other service providers and stakeholders. Beyond Shelter, as the Lead Agency, partners with its housing development affiliate, Beyond Shelter Housing Development Corporation (BSHDC), to develop affordable housing and neighborhood resource centers. BSHDC has developed 603 units of affordable, primarily service-enriched housing, with an additional 8 projects and 472 units currently in construction or pre-development in L.A. County. The service-enriched housing component of the Broadway South Neighborhood Revitalization Project is financed through partnerships with a variety of local, state, and federal housing authorities and agencies, as well as through private banks, lenders, and development partners.

9) Financial model: Families that reside in Beyond Shelter's heavily subsidized, service-enriched, affordable housing generally do not pay more than 30% of their income for housing and utilities, enabling the housing to be affordable to them. Other services provided to residents or to members of the neighborhood at-large, for example, child care services, crisis intervention services, resource and referral services, and employment services, are provided at no charge through a combination of public and private funding.

          • Costs as percentage of income: 20

          • Financing: Beyond Shelter's Neighborhood Revitalization Project (NRP), including service-enriched, affordable housing complexes and Neighborhood Resource Centers, is financially sustainable through a combination of tenant rent income (although rent is affordable to the very low-income residents), cost-leveraging that is enabled through Federal housing programs that include tax credits provided to development partners, and Federal and state housing bond programs. Parents often raise funding for children’s programs through fundraising events. Additionally, space is provided to various programs to operate on-site (free of charge to clients), a few hours or a few days per week, depending on space. In addition, fundraising efforts that include corporate and foundation grants, and local government program funding, has enabled Beyond Shelter to “fill gaps in services” that are not available in the community.

10) Effectiveness

          • Project outcomes: Today, nearly 800 individuals, including children and adults, are residing in Beyond Shelter's service-enriched, affordable housing complexes in South Los Angeles. Through Beyond Shelter's Neighborhood Resource Centers, thousands of additional at-risk families, children, and individuals from the broader South Los Angeles community have received an array of social services, included access to emergency shelter, food, child care, health, and employment services. Since inception, it is estimated that approximately 10,000 men, women and children have been served.

          • Number of clients in past year: Approximately 2,500 neighborhood families, children and individuals received services through the Neighborhood Resource Centers and other neighborhood-based services, and in 2005, 540 parents, children and individuals resided in service-enriched housing.

          • Percentage of clients that are poor or marginalized: 100

          • Potential demand: Beyond Shelter's Broadway South Neighborhood Revitalization Project (NRP) exemplifies Beyond Shelter's program methodologies of Service-Enriched Housing and Neighborhood- Based Services Coordination. With a current poverty-rate of 43% among the area's 120,000 residents, and severe shortages of housing and services, there is much continued demand for increased affordable, service-enriched housing and neighborhood-based services coordination in the Broadway South Neighborhoods in South Los Angeles. The overall Los Angeles urban area comprises a population of more than 10 million. Beyond Shelter's program model and methodologies are designed to benefit high-poverty urban neighborhoods, but can be adapted to serve many different areas. For example, with partners, Beyond Shelter is currently in early stages of development to adapt the model to the Kantalomba slum in Ndola, Zambia.

11) Scaling up strategy

          • Stage of the initiative: Scaling Up stage.

          • Expansion plan: Beyond Shelter is currently seeking additional land in which to develop 300-500 units of service-enriched affordable housing over the next three years. At least one site will include a third Neighborhood Resource Center strategically located between Broadway Village I and Broadway Village II. Currently in development, adjacent to the NRP target area are 16 units of housing for high risk young mothers (Mason Court), Central Village (a mixed-use development including 85 units of housing for large families, as well as commercial and retail space), and an emergency shelter and respite center for families. Community organizing to address drugs and gangs will be implemented, as will homeownership programs for low-income families in South Los Angeles. Nationally, Beyond Shelter conducts training and workshops on service-enriched housing and neighborhood services coordination.

12) Origin of the initiative: Tanya Tull, the founder and President/CEO of Beyond Shelter, has for over 25 years played a leading role in the development of innovative solutions to the crisis of poverty and homelessness among families with children, both in Los Angeles and nationwide. In 1988, in response to increasing numbers of homeless families in Los Angeles and the need for a more comprehensive approach to serving them, she founded Beyond Shelter and has since helped to transform both public policy and practice on a national scale. Beyond Shelter's core program, "Housing First" for Homeless Families, introduced a dramatic innovation in the field: the “housing first” approach. Today, localities throughout the country are adapting this new methodology. Following the 1992 Civil Unrest, Tanya began to focus on South Los Angeles, implementing the Neighborhood Revitalization Project.

Contact Information:
Tanya  Tull
President/CEO
Beyond Shelter
(NGO)
1200 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 600, Los Angeles, California 90017
United States
Tel: 213 252 0772
Fax: 213 480 0846
Email: ttull@beyondshelter.org
Website: beyondshelter.org