United Way HomeWalk 2010

Home For Good

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation supports the efforts of United Way of Greater Los Angeles and its Home For Good initiative which includes a blueprint for creating a cost-effective and efficient system that will end chronic and veteran homelessness in Los Angeles County by 2016. Los Angeles is considered to be the homeless capital of the nation with over 51,000 individuals experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County; 9,000 of these individuals are Veterans and 12,500 are chronically homeless. Through a partnership of United Way of Greater Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the creation of the Business Leader's Task Force oversees the Home For Good plan which is designed to end homelessness rather than simply manage it by focusing on permanent supportive housing as the first, most critical step on the path to wellness.

2012 marked the second year of the initiative and activities began with the Home For Good Summit which included 300 members of the public, private, non-profit, business, government, faith, and philanthropic sectors. The Summit highlighted important accomplishments from year one including:

  • Organizations doubled usage of the Homeless Management Information System database
  • Decrease in time to move veterans from the street into housing from 168 to 100 days
  • 2,273 chronically homeless individuals placed into housing 

These achievements continued to be highlighted throughout the year with several public service announcements made for mainstream and online media including a video highlighting a retired veteran's story in getting off the street and into a home. In November, nearly 10,000 people participated in HomeWalk, an annual 5k family walk event. The event aims to raise awareness about the personal and societal costs of homelessness. Each year, thousands come together at Homewalk to do their part by fundraising and spreading the word that homelessness is a solvable problem. According to United Way, over the past five years, HomeWalk has raised $2.2 million.

In 2012, philanthropic and public sector partners launched the "Home For Good" Funders Collaborative, a first of its kind partnership in Los Angeles. The collaborative includes 24 public and private funders working together to create a single application process, align priorities, and make funding decisions together, aiding donors to leverage funds for maximum impact and streamlining the application process for local providers. $1 million of the funds awarded to Home For Good from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation were used as a challenge grant to collaborative partners and in 2012, this cross-sector effort resulted in $105 million in coordinated resources, $5 million in private funding aligned with $100 million in public resources, for 30 non-profit organizations.  

Results

  • As of November 2012, 67 cities have opted in to the L.A. Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) January 2013 Homeless Count. This more than doubles the number of cities that opted in to the 2011 Homeless Count, making this the most comprehensive Count in Los Angeles history.
  • Dozens of leaders pledged with their signatures to implement the Los Angeles Business Leaders Task Force on Homelessness, Home For Good, with the key goal to end chronic and veteran homelessness in five years.

Resources