Housing Is Health Care

After being in and out of detention homes and temporary services since the age of 13, L.A. Care member Ma’Lissa ended up on the streets, back on drugs. She says, "When you’re high, you don't care where you live … in a car, under a staircase, on a friend's couch for a few days."

It wasn't until she was six months pregnant with twins, in the hospital for gestational diabetes, kidney problems and more, that things started to change. She says, "When I felt my babies move inside me, I knew I didn't want to go back to that life."

It was in the hospital that she also learned about L.A. County's Housing for Health, a program designed to improve health outcomes by getting people off the streets and into permanent supportive housing. L.A. Care awarded $20 million to Brilliant Corners over five years to move individuals into permanent supportive housing, which means providing services like cooking lessons, substance use treatment, and job search skills.  Brilliant Corners and Housing for Health were a part of the Whole Person Care Pilot, which was a five-year pilot through which L.A. County obtained federal matching dollars to provide wraparound services to high-risk Medi-Cal beneficiaries.

The collaboration among L.A. Care, L.A. County's Housing for Health program, and Brilliant Corners established a robust system to ensure people experiencing homelessness with significant health risks received timely assessments and intensive case management, and were connected to permanent supportive housing.

Thanks to L.A. Care's $20 million commitment, Brilliant Corners paid more than 8,100 rental payments, securing housing and wraparound services for 332 households. The vast majority, 74 percent, were L.A. Care members.

L.A. Care remains steadfast in its commitment to mitigate homelessness through specialized programs, including a $3 million investment to help prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place. Investing in eviction prevention versus housing placement is less costly, and it minimizes preventable health care utilization and medical expenditures.