Los Angeles County has been awarded a $51.5 million state grant to expand its Pathway Home program and help nearly 600 people living along the I-105 Freeway.
As KNX News' Margaret Carrero reports, the focus is on the corridor from West Athens to Norwalk and the riverbeds that cross it.
According to Carter Hewgley, senior manager of the county's Homeless Initiative, there are six zones along the corridor where people experiencing homelessness are living. He said they take refuge where the freeway crosses the L.A. and San Gabriel rivers.
KNX News
Since its inception in August, Hewgley says the Pathway Home program has managed to move 562 people into temporary housing, with 95 of them already in a permanent home.
Hewgley says the grant funding, combined with $16 million in Measure H money and other local dollars, will allow the Pathway Home to purchase more than 200 motel rooms - bring people into interim housing, connect them to the services they need, and ultimately provide an exit pathway to permanent housing.
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He notes that this is a multi-year grant, so over time, locals will start to see a response from Pathway Home workers in their area as resources fall into place.
"We're just excited to use this money to continue that program and expand it to even more locations, more communities, and more individuals experiencing homelessness," said Hewgley.
Communities that this will impact include West Athens, Willowbrook, Downey, and Norwalk.
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