Late October 2019 Councilmember Krekorian sponsored a motion to build additional bridge housing in CD2. The site is 7700-7798 Van Nuys Boulevard, which includes part of a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power storage and maintenance yard and an adjacent parking lot owned by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.
Initially they considered a different location but in consulting with the community determined that this stretch of Van Nuys Boulevard was a preferred site, which offers better access to transit opportunities. Krekorian thanked the community for working with them and supporting the project.
The site can accommodate beds for 100 individuals. It was selected in partnership with the local community, has community support, and is connected to the Van Nuys Transit Hub served by Amtrak buses and trains. The site has storage space for residents, personal hygiene and laundry facilities, supportive and community engagement services, and 24-hour security.
In combination with 85 beds at the Raymer bridge housing site, which is scheduled to open in the first part of next year, completion of the new facility would mean that CD2 will have 185 beds under the program A Bridge Home. Efforts are continuing to find additional sites to house the district’s unsheltered population.
The Van Nuys Boulevard site will be primarily funded with grant money from the State of California. Krekorian’s motion provides for funds to complete project design and purchase the tension membrane structure and modular trailers.
The goal, of course, is to move these tenants into permanent supportive housing, which in the end is the solution to our homelessness crisis.
