The Trust News - Skid Row Housing Trust

The Trust News
skid row housing trust [ Homes. Support. Success. ]
with a degree in bookkeeping in 1984. All the
while, she was the primary caregiver for her
disabled mother. Over time, this grew to be
quite a challenge for Dionne.
Fortunately, Dionne’s father came back
into the picture, leading to her mother and
father being remarried. With her father now
taking care of her mother, Dionne was free to
focus on her life.
She moved in with her boyfriend and
the two of them were married. Sadly, the
marriage did not work out and they were
quickly divorced. With her father’s passing in
2003, Dionne was once again called on – to
care for her disabled mother.
Dionne was responsible for getting her
mother to and from work, cleaning the house,
doing all of the cooking and taking care of
any maintenance issues. The pressures
In the Edward Apartments: Dionne Irvin
Meet Dionne. At first glance, she hardly
Dionne was working as a waitress at a
and stress were growing exponentially on
a day-to-day basis. Something had to give
– and finally it did. Dionne turned to drugs
for release. It was the drugs that would
looks like a woman who has lived through
Los Angeles area Bob’s Big Boy restaurant
eventually land her in a rehab facility in
one of the darkest, most gruesome
when 2 masked gunmen broke in through the
Acton, CA.
chapters in Los Angeles’ history. Looks
back door of the restaurant to rob the place.
can be deceiving though.
Everyone in the building was taken hostage,
– she returned to Los Angeles only to find
herded into the back room and robbed
that while she was away, her mother had
At the age of 10, her mother was diagnosed
of their jewelry and wallets, before being
refinanced the home using an unscrupulous
with a brain tumor and would subsequently
forced into the meat freezer. The gunmen
financier. This led to skyrocketing mortgage
lose the use of her legs as a result. The
then proceeded to follow them into the meat
payments and eventually the sale of the
stress caused by the diagnosis led to her
freezer and shot each of them – one by one.
house.
Dionne was born in Rochester, New York.
mother and father separating and eventually
When the smoke cleared, two of
When she had finished her stay in rehab
Her mother retired in 2008, and moved
Dionne’s coworkers and a customer had
back to Rochester, New York. Dionne was
Once her mother was better, the two of
been needlessly slaughtered. Miraculously,
undaunted and determined to rebuild her life.
them decided to throw caution to the wind,
Dionne and her boss had survived. Though
This would be nearly impossible, as her own
and in 1968 they moved to Los Angeles.
her physical injuries may not have killed her –
health problems now began to surface.
divorcing.
Dionne graduated from the Catholic
high school, Notre Dame Academy. In
1976, Dionne’s mother was awarded a
substantial amount of money in a lawsuit.
This allowed her mother to buy a home in an
the damage left in the wake of this tragedy,
forever altered her life.
That night’s bloodbath would come to be
known as the “Bob’s Big Boy Massacre.”
After struggling through nearly a year
She was working as a phone operator
when she was diagnosed with Lumbar Disc
Disease & Degenerative Osteoarthritis.
After 9 months under a doctor’s care she
was told she had to stop working. The
upscale neighborhood. “It was Beverly Hills
of physical therapy and intense psychiatric
work was compounding her condition with
adjacent!” Dionne quips.
rehabilitation, Dionne was ready to begin her
‘accumulated trauma’.
During this period, Dionne enlisted in
the Army reserves. She also took on some
life again.
She started by completing her service
Unable to work, she quickly depleted
what little savings she had. After a few
part-time work. And then it happened. On
as an Army reservist and was honorably
relatively short stays with friends, she was
December 14, 1980, the world, as she knew it
discharged. She followed that up by studying
homeless. Fortunately, she was able to get
would be forever changed.
at United College of Business and graduated
Continued on page 3.
The Trust News Summer 2011
1317 EAST SEVENTH STREET LOS ANGELES, CA 90021 213 683-0522 PAGE 1
A Letter from the Director
Dear Friends and Supporters,
staff, volunteers and the larger community. That
collaboration is weakened when there is not both
When Skid Row Housing Trust was founded in
direct communication and mutual understanding
1989 we were a tiny company. Led by longtime
of each other.
community activist Alice Callaghan and a
This year we launched a new program to
committed group of civically minded downtown
address this weakness, the Trust Resident
business leaders, we started with two small
Ambassadors Program. The program is a
residential hotels with fewer than 100 apartments
yearlong curriculum designed to provide
between them.
residents with the skills to more effectively
I joined the Trust a year later in 1990. At
that time, our work was focused on saving the
communicate their experiences as residents
of the Trust’s homes.
existing housing stock in the community. Our
goal was to ensure that it was restored to a high
standard of quality and was affordable to the
extremely low-income residents who had already
Learn more by taking a tour. Regular
scheduled tours are on the first
Wednesday (11 am) and the third
Tuesday (4 pm) of each month. Email
[email protected] to RSVP for a tour.
with residents and our understanding of their
lives was limited.
Concerned that third-party property
management companies were not managing the
buildings as well as we desired, we started our
Managing the buildings directly gave us
Each month, 15 residents from 9 different
Trust sites gather to explore topics ranging
a greater familiarity with residents. Providing
from the art of good storytelling to defining
limited case management also helped increase
the Housing First model. Opportunities for the
our understanding of our residents’ needs. But,
ambassadors are wide ranging, from sharing
our primary focus remained on developing and
their stories with the Trust’s board of directors to
opening new properties.
providing critical feedback on designs of future
Around the year 2000, we began to look at
supportive housing sites. The ambassadors
our work differently. We had become acutely
play an integral role on our monthly tours, too.
aware of how fragmented the homeless service
Sharing and interacting with our tour guests is a
delivery system was. We were very troubled by
crucial part of developing a better understanding
how difficult it was for our residents to access
of how the Trust is changing the lives of real
the services they needed.
people – every day.
We decided the only solution was to change
Each event provides another venue for them
the system. In 2003 we created the Skid Row
to voice what supportive housing means to them
Collaborative, which integrated primary health
personally. As a result, we have gained a deeper
care, mental health treatment and substance
understanding of where our residents come from
abuse treatment onsite at the St. George Hotel.
and where they hope to go in the future.
This gave us the opportunity to begin to think
Today, we understand our role to be a
about residents as part of a team – that included
supportive one to that of our residents. They
property management, housing development,
are the heroes that are transforming downtown
resident services and outside community
Los Angeles. They are the men and women who
groups; in other words, a partnership. A
are bucking the odds by proving that change is
partnership of professionals and community
always possible. It does not matter where you
members all committed to transforming both the
come from, how long you’ve been on the streets,
response to homelessness and the possibilities
how powerful your addiction is or how severe
for those who had experienced homelessness.
the psychiatric disability is – recovery is always
Today the Trust manages close to 1,500
homes. In any given year approximately 1,800
possible.
We hope that you as our partner in this work,
different men and women will reside in one of
will be inspired like we are, by the men and
our buildings. While our frontline staff, property
women who call Skid Row Housing Trust home.
management and social services, know our
residents well, our senior staff and board do not
You are cordially invited to join our
community of contributors today! The
Trust’s community is comprised of
residents, staff, volunteers, sponsors,
supporters and service partners. Here
are a number of ways to contribute to
solving homelessness. Make a difference
for the thousands of men and women
who still live on the streets of Skid Row
and all of our residents who are living
proof that homes + support = success.
Tour
lived in the community for years. Our contact
own property management company in 1995. Welcome to Our
Community of Contributors
Sincerely,
always get that opportunity. Over the years we’ve
come to understand this to be a weakness. Our
work is a joint effort between our residents,
Volunteer
Complete a volunteer profile and register
to attend our Volunteer Orientation on
Wednesday, August 10th 5:30-6:30 pm,
in order to participate as a volunteer
for the Dish Depot in the fall and other
upcoming opportunities.
Build Welcome Home! Kits
More than 300 people move into homes
provided by the Trust every year.
Gather friends, family and/or coworkers
together to build a Welcome Home! Kit.
Invite a Trust Ambassador
to Speak
The Trust Ambassadors are equipped
to share their stories to help inform
and inspire. Invite an Ambassador to
share with your company or social/civic
group.
Make a Gift
Return the attached envelope with
a gift. Participate in your employer’s
United Way Campaign and designate
your gift to the Trust.
Find out if your company makes matching
gifts to charities. Consider making a gift
to the Trust through your estate.
Contact L. Renee Smith, Fund
Development Director at renee@
skidrow.org or call 213-683-0522 x
139 to learn more.
Mike Alvidrez
PAGE 2 The Trust News Development Corner
Continued from page 1.
General Relief, but that only amounted to
$221 per month plus food stamps.
In Development
Dionne was not eligible for Veterans
Benefits, since her service was only in
the reserves. However, the Veterans
Administration did assist Dionne by referring
her to Skid Row Housing Trust.
Meanwhile, her escalating back condition
continued to slowly reduce her mobility.
Thankfully within the span of a few
weeks, Dionne was moving into the Edward
Apartments.
That was 6 months ago. Since moving
in, she has been able to secure her Social
Security Disability benefits, giving her a
better income and health care through
The rendering of the Star Apartments (above left)
highlights a plan view of the Second Floor deck;
which will include a walking track, community
garden, basketball court, and multi-purpose
exercise area for classes such as yoga and aerobics.
This community area will be open to all residents
of Trust buildings throughout the community.
The Star Apartments will
be the first multi-family
prefabricated construction
in Los Angeles. Each
apartment (above right) will be
manufactured offsite and then
transported to the site and
craned into place to create
the 102-unit structure.
In Construction
The Killefer Flammang Architects designed New Genesis Apartments
continues to rise above Main Street in the Historic Core of Downtown. The Genesis
has now reached 35% construction completion. The New Genesis Apartments
will include affordable housing for people at a range of incomes and include onsite
supportive services, as well as ground floor retail. The New Genesis is on track for
its spring 2012 opening.
Medicare.
Dionne is still adjusting to her new home
at the Edward. She struggles with pain and
doesn’t even get up and about on some
days. Dionne is not focused on what’s wrong
in her life, though.
“I try to stay humble about
things – because everything is
a blessing. Having a room and
a roof over my head – it’s all a
blessing.”
Dionne is also a valued member of
the Trust’s Ambassador program. She
volunteered to serve as an ambassador after
less than a month at the Edward.
The Ambassador program provides
an opportunity for Dionne to learn about
storytelling, public speaking and better
New to ‘Welcome
Home!’ Kits?
No problem, we’ll come to
you and give a presentation.
One of our Ambassadors will
be on hand to explain the
process and answer all of
your questions. We will even
bring a completed kit with us.
Contact [email protected]
to schedule.
Almost 300 and Growing!
communication skills. It also provides the
Since the launch of the Trust’s facebook
page, almost 300 people
have “Liked” what we
are doing. That’s a solid
number, but we want
to get that number to
500 – by Labor Day. Our
facebook page contains the most up to date
information on what’s happening at the
Trust, including new volunteer opportunities,
recent awards and homeless resources.
explore what it means to be a resident of
So, help us spread the word about what the
Trust is doing to combat homelessness. There
is a link on our homepage (skidrow.org) or
just type in ‘Skid Row Housing Trust’ on your
facebook search bar.
prospect for Dionne to meet new people and
the Edward, from a different perspective. In
fact, Dionne recently had the opportunity to
sit down with Mark Johnston, HUD Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Special Needs,
and discuss federal funding for supportive
housing.
Despite the ups and downs of her life,
Dionne has never allowed herself to be
defined by her tragedy. She takes her health
one day at a time and has an abundance of
gratitude for the simple comforts in her life.
For a more personal look into Dionne’s
story, go to our website at skidrow.org.
We will be posting the video interview
which includes an expanded look at
Dionne’s life – in her own words.
PAGE 3 The Trust News Policy Corner: Redevelopment, the State Budget and Reform
These are dark days for California. The promise of a state
that fostered innovation, good public schools, excellent
higher education, the best physical infrastructure in the
country and good weather to boot, has become nothing
more than a distant memory.
The City of Los Angeles Community
Redevelopment Agency dedicates 25% of
all redevelopment funds to affordable
housing.
While the Trust has survived the boom
and bust years of redevelopment, from the
days of Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley to
LA County suing the city’s redevelopment
agency, we know that redevelopment
remains critical to our work of ending chronic
homelessness.
California needs a balanced budget.
Our state will not be great again, until we can
operate in the black and restore fiscal
integrity to government. The opportunity in
front of us today is the chance to create a
better, more efficient government.
Redevelopment needs to have a role in that
government.
No one is arguing that redevelopment
does not need to be reformed. In fact, there
are several powerful reform proposals
currently being discussed. California State
Senator Alan Lowenthal has introduced SB
450, which would increase oversight and
accountability for redevelopment agencies
and how they fund affordable housing. SB
The New Genesis Apartments is currently under construction and would not
have been possible without an acquisition loan from the City of Los Angeles
Community Redevelopment Agency.
450 includes a variety of fixes that would help
ensure that funding for affordable housing
benefits the tens of thousands of Californians
who are desperately in need of affordable
housing.
We strongly believe that redevelopment
Today, the California story is no longer what
blighted areas. From its earliest implementation,
should not be eliminated. California’s poor
we can do, instead, it’s an ever-expanding
including the development of Bunker Hill, the
are already struggling under the weight of
list of public services we no longer provide.
theory behind, and results of, redevelopment
years of reckless budget cuts. Eliminating
Of course, all of these cuts directly impact
were controversial.
one of the last sources of funding for
the lives of real people. The cuts so far, have
We, at Skid Row Housing Trust, have a
affordable housing would only weaken our
had a devastating impact on people living in
special relationship with redevelopment, as
poverty. Disabled individuals who no longer
we would not exist without it. We know that it
receive dental care. Families with elderly
is an imperfect system that is sometimes
work to let your state representatives know
relatives who can no longer receive
prone to abuse, but we also know first-hand
that solving chronic homelessness is a
rehabilitation services. Physically disabled
the incredible good produced by redevelopment.
priority for you, your community and the
The establishment of low-income housing
entire state of California. Make sure they
men and women who no longer receive
crippled state further.
We encourage all of our partners in this
in-home care to help them live independently
tax credits in 1986 and the housing
understand that redevelopment is a crucial
in their own homes. And the list of budget-
replacement required by the Bunker Hill
tool that we can not afford to be without.
cut victims goes on and on.
redevelopment area, were critical factors that
Amongst all the cuts is the discussion
made it possible for the Trust to secure and
about whether California should eliminate
rehabilitate our early housing sites. 20% of all
redevelopment entirely.
redevelopment funds must be spent on the
Redevelopment is an easy target.
preservation and development of affordable
California invented tax increment financing in
housing. All housing that is removed from the
1952 to spur economic development in
community due to redevelopment must be
As of press time the fate of
redevelopment continues to be unknown,
which only emphasizes the need to
communicate the importance of
redevelopment to state representatives.
replaced on a 1-for-1 basis.
PAGE 4 The Trust News Meet the Trust Resident Ambassadors
It’s time for us to introduce all the members
Steve Hatter
Marcus Christy
The Abbey Apartments
The Lincoln Hotel
A witty, devastatingly
handsome blind dude
with a nifty sense of
humor who is very
grateful to live in a Trust
home.
Trying to be a positive
influence for change
in the community.
Karen Burton
Michael Henderson
Paul Mitchell
The Abbey Apartments
The Boyd Hotel
Olympia Hotel
Amazing things
happen when you
stay the course!
I’ve worked downtown over
Skid Row Housing
Trust is helping me –
help myself.
Michael Holt
Dionne Irvin
Frederick Smith
The New Carver Apartments
The Edward Apartments
The Pershing Hotel
The errors of my past
provide wisdom for
my future.
Ambassador Program has
opened my eyes to the
wide-spread need to help
the homeless and with all
the support necessary to
do so.
Skid Row Housing
Trust = a better body,
mind and spirit.
Demitrius Robinson
Vic Rodriquez
Dante Townsend
The Hart Hotel
The Dewey Hotel
The Edward Apartments
Have a great summer
from me to you!
From Demitrius at
the Hart Hotel.
The Trust Ambassador
Program has helped me to
be intellectually, emotionally
and spiritually whole.
Success.
It’s a journey,
Not a Destination
Theresa Winkler
Greg Williams
Len Evans
The Abbey Apartments
The Boyd Hotel
The Lincoln Hotel
Theresa=Recovering addict
I wish to grow in public
speaking about recovery and
how the Trust has helped
me achieve 5 years clean
and sober.
I’ve been living at the Boyd
since July 2005. Since
then, I’ve maintained my
sobriety established
a good relationship
with my family and met
new friends in the
Ambassador Program.
The Trust was a friendly
face, and my home
at the Lincoln, a solid
foundation of stability,
at a time when there
was little of either in
my life.
of the Trust Resident Ambassador Program.
Our ambassadors were asked to personalize this
introduction – by writing a few words that would
tell you something about who they are. Want to
know more? Why not attend a tour of the Abbey,
New Carver or Cobb apartments and learn about
permanent supportive housing from the people who
are living proof that it works! [More tour info on page 2]
The Trust News PAGE 5
10 years and I’ve met a lot
of people – both in and out
of recovery. People come to
me with everything!
Skid Row Housing Trust’s philosophy is simple:
Homes + Support = Success
The Trust solves homelessness by
developing, managing and
maintaining permanent supportive
housing. The Trust provides HOMES
for the most vulnerable homeless
men and women on the streets. The
Trust ensures that our residents
have access to the critical SUPPORT
services needed to achieve stability,
good health, and dignity. The Trust
ensures SUCCESS by reducing
homelessness through opportunity
for our residents and better
neighborhoods for our communities.
Board of Directors
Marc Hayutin
Patrick Spillane
Curtis Hessler
David Armitage
Robert E. Carlson
Jennifer Caspar
Paul Gregerson
Adam Handler
Dan Leibsohn
Itohan Oyamendan
Skid Row Housing Trust is a 501c(3) organization to which
contributions are tax-deductible.
Skid Row Housing Trust, 1317 E. 7th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90021 (213) 683-0522 www.skidrow.org
The Trust News PAGE 6