Divine 9 group adopts housing unit at North Hollywood Tiny Homes village – Daily News
The Valley Divine 9 — a group of Black fraternity and sorority organizations in San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Simi Valley — have come together to sponsor a housing unit for the homeless at North Hollywood’s Whitsett West Tiny Home Village.
Last month, the group toured the complex, which is operated by the Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission.
‘I’m impressed,’ said Fallon Nelms of the village complex. “Very nicely done.”
“It’s a lot like a dorm room, more spacious than I expected,” said Adam Jackson of the dwellings.
Divine 9 is one of many groups and individuals who are sponsoring units at Tony Homes complexes supervised by Hope of the Valley. Sponsorships, usually $3,000 per tiny home, are designed to help supplement the ongoing operational costs of the villages. Monthly payment options are available, according to Fonda Rosing, Hope of the Valley development associate.
Hope of the Valley has a contract with Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority for most of the expenses incurred as the operator, but that doesn’t cover all the costs, officials said.
More information: [email protected] or 818-392-0020.
More housing units for the homeless will be needed in the months ahead to tackle the region’s homeless crisis.
The actual number of people experiencing housing insecurity in the San Fernando Valley and countywide remains in flux because an accurate count of the area’s unhoused was delayed amid the COVID-19 outbreak — though experts say the problem is worsening and was complicated by two years of pandemic .
The annual homeless count returned this year after being canceled in 2021. The 2020 count found that 41,290 were homeless in the city of Los Angeles, a 16% increase from the prior year, with 28,852 unsheltered and living in dwellings that include tents and vehicles. Statewide, 151,000 were reported in 2020, and 66,436 in Los Angeles County, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Experts agree that the numbers have certainly grown since then and this year’s rekindled count is anxiously awaited.
“Take a look at our streets,” City Council President Nury Martinez said recently. “We have families in tents. We have women fleeing domestic violence, sleeping in parks. We have people clearly struggling with mental health illnesses walking around our streets at night. We have to call it like we see it. We have to treat it for the crisis that it is.”
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