New housing for young people experiencing homelessness

With the construction of the Nest on Exposition, a pioneering housing development and mental health project, Wellnest Emotional Health & Wellness (Wellnest) hopes to bring an innovative approach to addressing intersecting issues of homelessness, housing insecurity and mental health for young adults living in Los Angeles. 

On Thursday, February 29, Wellnest, a n provider of emotional health and wellness services located in South L.A., hosted a ceremony to inaugurate and announce the construction of the Nest on Exposition, which consists of 24 interim housing units for young adults 18-25 years old who are homeless or who may be at risk of being homeless. 

The Nest on Exposition will consist of a 7,800-square-foot site at 3787 S. Vermont Avenue, just south of Metro's Expo/Vermont Station, and include units with an average size of 305 square feet, as well as laundry and community rooms and one additional apartment for an on-site manager.

Charlene Dimas Peinado, Wellnest President and CEO, also told CALÒ News that the interim housing plans are to provide each resident living there with a fully-furnished home with a private restroom and kitchen within their apartment.

Young adults are some of the most vulnerable groups to make up the L.A. homeless population. The 2023 Greater Los Angeles Youth Count, covering L.A. County’s eight service areas (outside of Pasadena, Glendale and Long Beach), showed that the point-in-time estimate of homeless youth was 3,894 persons, a 38% jump from the 2022 count. The 3,894 number was made up of 1,743 sheltered and 1,852 unsheltered individuals. 

This $10 million project comes to fruition as a result of investments from the city, county and federal governments. A total of $2,855,926 to fund the project came from the Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative and Affordable Housing. 

The biggest badge of funding comes from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (CDHCD), Project Homekey, a statewide effort to sustain and rapidly expand housing for persons experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. In November 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom announcedmore than $154 million in Homekey funding for new interim and supportive housing across the state. Of that total, L.A. County received roughly $37.2 million and $7.6 million went specifically to the Nest on Exposition. 

“Homekey continues to demonstrate that we can build quickly, and at a fraction of the usual cost, to deliver much-needed affordable homes for Californians struggling to find a place to live,” Newsom said. "There’s still more work ahead, but the state is taking proactive measures, from implementing accountability standards to offering incentives, to confront this housing crisis head-on.”

Gustavo Velasquez, Director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development, told CALÒ NEWS that this investment is historic, but very much needed at a time when homelessness is at an all-time high, not just in L.A. but all over the state of California.“Homelessness is the number one problem and is one of the top priorities for the governor,” he said. “Even though the budget is limited, we are putting as many investments in units that can eventually house people that are living on the street. This is the type of thing that we are celebrating and constantly trying to invest in.”

Representatives from Mayor Karen Bass's offices were also present at Thursday’s inaugurating event. Lourdes Castro Ramirez, Chief Housing and Homelessness Solutions and the office of the mayor shared some of the county’s wins when it comes to housing. 

“We have been able to work together in bringing more than 21, 000 Angelenos inside through interim housing and support. This is a system shift and we will continue to move with urgency to bring people inside to improve and enhance connections to care and services and to build more places like the place that we are going to be breaking ground on today,” she said. “We know that we need more housing and we're doing everything possible to ensure that more housing is built quicker, faster, cheaper. But we don't always really understand the value and the importance of integrating public health, behavioral health, education [and] the programming that is necessary to ensure that residents are able to thrive. And that's why the partnership between the city and the county becomes so important. “

Since its founding in 1924, Wellnest has offered mental health and supportive services for children, adults and families. According to the Wellnest 2022-2023 annual report, 58% of their clients are Latinos and 51% of them identify as women. 

The Nest on Exposition will not only offer a safe haven for youth exiting the foster care and juvenile probation systems but it also hopes to continue Wellnest’s commitment to fostering healthier communities by addressing fundamental needs such as housing and holistic wellbeing.

The young adult who will be temporarily living at the Nest will also be able to receive services such as case management, mental health support, addiction and recovery services, employment or benefits advocacy, and assistance on independent living skills. 

“Many of the young people whom this housing is for might have experienced a tremendous amount of adversity in their young lives, but we believe that they have promise, and that promise will be realized when they can live in quality housing and receive all of these critically needed services,” Dimas-Peinado told CALÓ News. “We have also begun working with all the local community colleges. To ensure that the young people living here get into community colleges or trade-techs so that they can participate in job training and job placement, because we want them to be solid wage earners.”

Holly J. Mitchell, Los Angeles County Board Supervisor, 2nd District, said that as an elected member of the Board of Supervisors, she takes her role very seriously as being a part of the solution to creating a county where everyone can grow old with dignity and raise children to thrive.

“Wellnest is one of the many partners working in partnership with the county, taking action for solutions to close the gap, a gap of an estimated 800,000 housing units needed to bring our 80,000, conservatively speaking, unhoused Angelenos inside, as well as all those that we don't see every day, those we know are couch-surfing, those who are in interim housing and those who are housing vulnerable, who dread the first of the month coming because they know how that they're at risk for losing their current housing,” she said.

The Nest on Exposition will begin construction next month and anticipates opening its doors in 2025. For more information, visit wellnestla.org.