Skip to content
Housing for All: Philanthropies, Nonprofits Look to Get People Off the Streets
Los Angeles, CA Oct 25, 2024

Housing for All: Philanthropies, Nonprofits Look to Get People Off the Streets

By Sherry Karabin The year was 2021, and the Covid-19 pandemic was raging across the world. In Los Angeles County, homelessness was continuing to increase, as officials and outreach workers looked to find solutions to the encampments that were lining various parts of the city of L.A. One of the largest, on Venice Beach, contained more than 200 people. Its size and location made it hard to ignore, setting the stage the successful six-week effort known as the Ocean Front Walk (OFW) Encampment to Home Project. This resulted in the majority of those individuals living in permanent housing. Modeled after the 2018 Encampment to Home pilot, which focused on two South L.A. communities, the effort was led by the Venice-based nonprofit St. Joseph Center, which serves as the Coordinated Entry System lead agency for Service Planning Area 5 (SPA 5) on the west side of the county. Read More: https://labusinessjournal.com/special-reports/housing-for-all-philanthropies-nonprofits-look-to-get-people-off-the-streets/

Share this story

Read Full Story

Related News & Media

St. Joseph Center Celebrates Opening of Berkeley Station in Santa Monica
Santa Monica, CA Apr 2, 2026

St. Joseph Center Celebrates Opening of Berkeley Station in Santa Monica

St. Joseph Center celebrated the opening of Berkeley Station, marking a powerful example of what can happen when vision, partnership, and persistence come together to create real pathways home. This milestone reflects the collective effort of our Youth Resource Team and the many partners who helped bring this project to life.

Located in Santa Monica, Berkeley Station is a 13-unit, four-story affordable housing development designed by Brooks + Scarpa. Completed in March 2026, it is the city’s first modular housing project serving low-income families and transitional-aged youth, with supportive services provided by St. Joseph Center.

We are proud to welcome eight youth and families into their new homes, including Malik and his daughter, Naomi.

Read More
Dr. Ryan J. Smith Advocates for Radical Care with Dignity as Frederick Douglass Lecturer
Los Angeles, CA Mar 13, 2026

Dr. Ryan J. Smith Advocates for Radical Care with Dignity as Frederick Douglass Lecturer

St. Joseph Center President and CEO Dr. Ryan J. Smith recently joined the prestigious Frederick Douglass Human Rights Lecture series at the University of La Verne to discuss a roadmap for housing justice.

During the keynote, Dr. Smith explored the harsh realities of homelessness and shared his own personal journey. He reminded the audience that meeting this crisis head-on is not just about policy, but also about approach: “It’s not just what you do, but it’s how you do it. We believe in the power of radical care.”

Read More:
https://laverne.edu/news/2026/02/20/human-rights-lecture-explores-harsh-realities-of-homelessness/

Watch Full Presentation:
https://youtu.be/K7Qm8_dkQxU?si=vgfYvosLfxaiiwOZ

Read More