The California Endowment and Linc Housing broke ground Tuesday on a two-acre downtown Los Angeles campus that will combine health, mental health, workforce development and reentry services with 124 affordable homes.
The Robert K. Ross Center for Hope and Healing is being developed at 800 N. Main St., near Men’s Central Jail, in partnership with Homeboy Industries and St. John’s Community Health, according to the organizations.
The first phase will include a 66,000-square-foot community care campus offering health care, mental and behavioral health services, workforce development, reentry and youth programs, food and basic-needs assistance and other services, officials said.
The second phase will include 124 affordable homes for families and individuals earning 30% to 60% of the area’s median income. Ten apartments will be reserved for eligible disabled clients of the federal Section 811 Project Rental Assistance program, and the development will include two on-site managers’ units.
The housing phase is expected to break ground in 2027.
“The Robert K. Ross Center brings the vision of Hope Village to life — a two-acre campus that pairs affordable housing with health and wellness services and offers a national model for alternatives to incarceration,” said Brenda Solórzano, president and CEO of The California Endowment.
The center is named for Dr. Robert K. Ross, who served as president and CEO of The California Endowment for 24 years before retiring in 2024.
“This center embodies a belief The California Endowment has held for years: that health happens here — in place, in space, with people and in community,” Ross said. “The idea for this center didn’t come from me or the board of directors. It came from the voices of community members who had been incarcerated, who had lived on the streets, who had been traumatized and who were willing to imagine a different kind of life. Care first, jails last isn’t just a slogan. It’s what a year of listening taught us, and it’s what this center is built to prove.”
Homeboy Industries will operate a workforce development and youth reentry center offering case management, substance-use recovery support, job training and employment programs, officials said.
St. John’s Community Health will provide preventive and primary care, mental and behavioral health services and services for homeless people and people affected by the justice system. Other services are expected to include laboratory testing, vision screenings, telehealth, benefits enrollment, expungement clinics and legal aid.
The housing portion of the project will include one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, gathering spaces, outdoor courtyards, a children’s playground and a fitness room, according to the organizations.
The project grew out of the Hope Village concept developed beginning in 2019 by The California Endowment and Homeboy Industries as an effort to create housing and community services near the county’s jail complex.
“The Robert K. Ross Center is about belonging and healing — and recognizing that people were never broken to begin with,” said Father Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries. “For too long, this corner of downtown told people who had been incarcerated that the jail was the last word on who they were. This Center offers a different message.”
Los Angeles City Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez said the project represents the type of investment envisioned under the county’s Care First approach.
“It will be a place where people can find housing and support in their own community, rather than only encountering systems once they’re already in crisis,” Hernandez said.
The project will include an Enhanced Targeted Hire Program intended to create construction and campus jobs for local residents and people affected by the justice system.
The California Endowment is contributing the land and supplemental capital funding for the project, while Linc Housing is working to secure additional financing and partnerships, officials said.