A bridge housing center for women ages 18-24 and their children opened Tuesday on the corner of Camino Palmero Street and Hollywood Boulevard.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, City Councilman David Ryu and representatives of Aviva Family and Children’s Services cut the ribbon on the Wallis House, which will provide private units of housing to women experiencing homelessness and their children, as well as wraparound services of mental health care, job training and life skills, according to Ryu’s office.
“Homelessness is a crisis in every neighborhood and among every community, but some are more vulnerable to homelessness than others,” Ryu said. “Young single mothers face high barriers to making ends meet and are at a far greater risk of harm when living on the street.”
Ryu said the Wallis House is a “historic property” in Hollywood that will welcome 15 families, with 42 total beds. The plan is to have the women transition out of homelessness and into independent living.
“A Bridge Home sites across Los Angeles are getting our homelessness neighbors off the streets and into housing,” Garcetti said. “The opening of Wallis House is another milestone in this work and will connect transitional-aged women and their children with the housing, healing and hope they urgently need and deserve.”
Aviva Family and Children’s Services will operate the facility. The house includes a gym, play area for kids, boutique and salon where residents can learn cosmetology, sewing and retail skills.
The project was funded with $2.36 million from the city under the Homeless Emergency Assistance Program funds. Residents and their families will live at the house for up to two years as they move to more permanent housing.
Wallis House is one of six homeless housing projects currently open, under construction, or under review in Council District 4, according to Ryu, joining the 100-bed emergency shelter at the LGBT Center’s Anita May Rosenstein Campus, which opened in April, and the 30-bed Women’s Bridge Housing Center on Gardner Street, which opened in September.