OPCC Awarded $1.7M To House Chronically Homeless

Online, August 12, 2010 (Newswire.com) - SANTA MONICA, CA - Ocean Park Community Center (OPCC) has been awarded a grant of nearly $1.7 million from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for its work in providing housing subsidies for the chronically homeless population in Santa Monica and the Westside of Los Angeles. The competitive grant is part of a Federal "Shelter Plus Care" package of more than $10 million awarded to three Los Angeles-area non-profits, the City of West Hollywood and the L.A. County Department of Mental Health.

Shelter Plus Care is a program designed to provide housing and supportive services on a long-term basis for homeless persons with disabilities, primarily those with serious mental illness, alcohol and/or drug addictions, and AIDS or related diseases, who are living on the streets or in emergency shelters.

"The Shelter Plus Care grant allows us to continue to expand our services to forty more at-risk homeless individuals who have the most to lose by remaining on the street," said John Maceri, Executive Director of OPCC. "We currently serve over 250 formerly homeless, disabled individuals in permanent housing each year through Shelter Plus Care funding, 94% of whom stay housed permanently," Maceri added.

OPCC Shelter Plus Care clients are housed in rental units in various Los Angeles area apartment buildings and must contribute one-third of their income toward the rent each month in order to participate.

OPCC is a Santa Monica based social services agency consisting of multiple shelters and programs for low-income and homeless populations. Founded in 1963, it is a community-supported organization in which staff, volunteers and clients work together with mutual respect to address the effects of poverty, abuse, neglect and discrimination. OPCC empowers people to rebuild their lives by providing a continuum of care for the most marginalized men, women and children in crisis - from emergency and transitional shelters and permanent supportive housing options to mental health services and empowerment programs designed to meet the clients wherever they might be on their path to self-sufficiency.

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