A vacant lot will soon be a haven for mothers fighting homelessness

In the heart of Hollywood, a new care facility for pregnant women and mothers will soon begin construction to transform what was once an empty city-owned lot into a facility to support, house and transform the lives of women living in the community. 

The new 27-bed residential substance use disorder treatment facility for women will offer trauma-informed residential care for mothers struggling with substance use.

The groundbreaking of the facility will take place in early 2026, followed by construction and a grand opening expected in the summer of 2027. 

The residential facility is made possible through state funding and partnership and collaboration between the City of L.A., Aviva Family and Children’s Services, a nonprofit social services provider and Dignity Moves, a nonprofit interim housing organization. 

In June, Aviva Family and Children's Services received a $9.3 million award for the new facility. This state funding came through the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program, administered by the California Department of Health Care Services. 

Shortly after, in August, through a motion by Councilwoman Nithya Raman, the L.A. City Council declared the property “exempt surplus land” and voted to enter into a 30-year lease with Aviva Family and Children's Services for use of the site as a perinatal treatment center. 

Amber Rivas, president and chief executive officer of Aviva Family and Children’s Services, said the partnership between the city and the two organizations stemmed from a desire to improve the housing epidemic in the city. 

“We saw this as an opportunity to expand access to services, especially in Hollywood, the community that we have been serving for 110 years. We reached out to various community partners, specifically our council district leadership, and immediately found an opportunity with the city’s fourth district,” she said. “We have seen the impact of homelessness throughout this city and we really thought that was the right fit for this community, given that substance use disorder is highly prevalent in the homeless community.”

The facility hopes to be not only a place where substance use services and support are available, but also a place where women can call and feel at home in a time when housing insecurity, homelessness and substance abuse are prevalent. 

As stated by the 2025 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, there were 72,308 people experiencing homelessness countywide—including 43,699 in the City of L.A. 

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which oversees the annual count, declared a 4% drop in homelessness across the county and a 3.4% decrease in the city compared to last year's count. Despite the decline, the exact number of "homeless mothers" isn't isolated in the data and it is believed that women are a vulnerable subpopulation of homeless people in the county. 

The facility will be located at 1901-1905 N. Highland Ave., just down the street from Aviva Family and Children’s Services headquarters. Programming and services inside the facility are expected to serve 40 to 50 families each year. Serving as interim housing, the facility will also offer average stays of 12 months and access to a multidisciplinary team focused on recovery and family stabilization.

Fraya Estreller, ​​chief operating officer of Dignity Moves, described the living facility as “dorm style.”  

She said the bedrooms would be for one family, but bathrooms and other communal spaces would be shared. “We want to have a lot of outdoor space, a communal outdoor dining area. There's even potentially an opportunity for some workforce development that may happen on the site and, of course, offices for mental health counseling.”  

Estreller also said there will potentially be space for a gym and a computer building.

For Dignity Moves, which is overseeing the project and construction of the facility, it is important to make it feel like a home for the mothers and kids who will be living inside.

“The idea behind this is to make it feel less institutional. It’s going to feel much more like a residential environment. The goal is to have an outdoor space where folks can be outside and get some sunlight and have their kids be able to congregate and play together,” she said. 

Estreller and Rivas also said the facility looks to provide substance use supportive groups and individual treatments, as well as case management and mental health services on-site for all mothers. 

The new facility will increase Aviva’s residential housing capacity by 50%, a critical expansion amid L.A.’s deepening housing crisis. 

The modular campus will also offer families on-site therapy, parenting support, life skills training and connections to permanent housing.

The program and facility will prioritize access for women of color, low-income mothers, women who are experiencing homelessness and trauma and those who have been involved with the child welfare system. 

Estreler and Rivas said one of the most notable qualities of the upcoming facility is that it will be specifically for women. It will allow mothers and children to be together during treatment and address long-standing racial and economic disparities in behavioral health care. 

Rivas said the majority of the workforce and clients of Aviva Family and  Children’s Services are Latinos. “We know how disproportionately impacted Latinos are when it comes to homelessness and substance use. We want to be able to fill a need.”