A Step to Freedom Celebrates 10 Years of Warm the Streets LA with HUD Grant to Expand Affordable Housing and Homeless Services

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A Step to Freedom (ASF) is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its Warm the Streets LA campaign by announcing a $1 million award from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Project Funding (CPF) for FY2024. This significant funding will support the development of permanent supportive housing (PSH) for justice-involved adults and transition-aged youth in South LA.

The $1 million HUD grant is a major milestone for ASF, as it is the first time the organization has secured funding of this magnitude. This financial support validates ASF's commitment to addressing homelessness and expanding critical services in South LA. The grant will enable ASF to further its mission by providing more stable housing solutions, developing organizational capacity and expanding opportunities for those in need to transition into healthy, supportive living environments. This transformative project will convert a surface parking lot into a community of supportive housing units, providing affordable living options for individuals earning between 30-50% of the Area Median Income (AMI).

For the past decade, Warm the Streets LA has tackled homelessness in Los Angeles by mobilizing volunteers to distribute thousands of blankets and personal protective equipment during the coldest months of the year to the nation's second-largest homeless population. The campaign strives to humanize the issue of homelessness, build community trust, and create pathways to independence for the unhoused.

This year's Warm the Streets LA campaign expanded across two days – Friday, November 8, and Saturday, November 9 – distributing a total of 10,000 blankets to individuals in need.

For more information about A Step to Freedom, visit https://asteptofreedom.org/.

About A Step to Freedom and Warm the Streets

A Step to Freedom (ASF) is a Southeast Los Angeles based non-profit founded by Kenneth Croom in 1991. Over the past 30+ years, ASF has developed community driven programming meant to address the largest impediments to success for impacted individuals, including homelessness, illness and recidivism.

Quotes

"In South LA, we are committed to building our community for the people who live here, who work here. This grant is a step towards ensuring that residents can afford housing in their own neighborhood. For the next four years, just like our ancestors made soul food from almost nothing, we're going to make something beautiful and lasting out of this opportunity. It will be challenging, but we will make it smell good, taste good, and bring the best out of what we have."

– A Step to Freedom CEO Kenya Croom

"As we move into a new administration, we face new challenges. There's a lack of urgency around affordable housing and homelessness, and it's not at the top of the new administration's agenda. But as Kenya reminded me, we've always done this work – and we'll continue to do it as hard as we possibly can. The funding we're announcing today is a small part of the support needed, but it's a crucial first step. I'm committed to collaborating with nonprofits, the County, the Federal Government, and private organizations to ensure we make this vision a reality. We need all possible funding sources at the table, and I'll ensure we make those connections. Thank you, ASF, for your tireless work and for everything you're doing to support our community."

– Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43)

"A Step to Freedom is an important organization throughout South LA. There are so many unhoused individuals, families, women, children and men who are having a hard time navigating the ins and outs of getting off the streets. Many men who are just trying to get skills and training so they can actually thrive in society," said Board President, Jimar Wilson. "I was asked to be a part of ASF support system to help build the organization and contribute to its growth. It is our mission to serve the needs of people in South Los Angeles who are desperately looking for a leg up," President Wilson continued.

– A Step to Freedom President Jimar Wilson

For more information, please contact Amy Malone at [email protected].

SOURCE A Step to Freedom