Los Angeles Opens Its First Shelter Village

In the past year, homelessness in Los Angeles County grew at a rate of 13%. That’s a startling change for any city — but for Los Angeles, where more than 50,000 people live without adequate access to shelter, a 13% increase represents thousands of new people who now live without a roof over their head.

The need for shelters and supportive housing in Los Angeles is more critical than ever, and to address that need, the City of Los Angeles is building Pallet shelter villages for its residents experiencing homelessness. The first such shelter village of its kind in Los Angeles opened last week and immediately reached full capacity, with new residents moving off the streets and into their own personal, private, and dignified sleeping cabins.

In the video below, Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission (on-site services manager for this shelter village) provides a tour of the community and the amenities that will be offered for residents:

Residents at the shelter village will have access to on-site services including meals, showers, case management, housing navigation, mental health, job training, and placement into permanent housing, all managed by Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission.

“Those who are homeless right now, many of them are living in encampments, under bridges, on dirt lots,” said Ken Craft, Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission President. “To be able to come and to have a place that is your own, have bathroom facilities, have three meals a day — you have all the resources you need to get back on your feet.”

Services provided at this site include:

● Meals
● Showers
● Case management
● Housing navigation
● Housing placement
● Job training
● Mental health services

How Pallet’s Shelters are Built

Pallet’s dignified shelters are assembled in about 30 minutes each, providing rapid safety and security to those in need. To speed up the installation process, the shelters are pre-fabricated in panel sections at Pallet’s Seattle-area factory headquarters, where the majority of employees who build these shelters have lived experience in homelessness, addiction, or the criminal justice system.

When a city is ready to install Pallet shelters, the pre-fabricated panels are shipped to the final assembly site with finishing materials (like bunk beds and shelving), where a team can quickly assemble the structures.

Made of durable and insulated walls, each shelter has an expected lifespan of 10+ years (during which time hundreds of residents can use the structure as a stepping stone into permanent housing). Shelter materials are easy to clean, and the folding bunk beds provide a place to sleep at night that, during the day, can be folded against the wall to make room for more living space. Residents in Pallet’s shelters have wall-mounted heaters and air conditioners for personal climate control.

About Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission

Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission will provide the management of on-site services at this shelter village, including meals, showers, case management, housing navigation, mental health, job training, and resident placement. Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission, a 501(c)3 organization, was founded in 2009 with a mission to assist in the effort of meeting the needs of every hungry and homeless man, woman, and child in the San Fernando Valley. Through strategic services and partnerships, Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission empowers its clients with the hope, faith, knowledge, resources, and skills to lead a life of wholeness and self-sufficiency.

Click here to learn more about Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission.