People Assisting The Homeless (PATH), Homestead Hospice and Shelters and Project New Hope, three nonprofit organizations dedicated to overcoming the struggles of homelessness, poverty and HIV/AIDS, have formed a new partnership to expedite and streamline the delivery of services they provide in the region.
Called PATH Partners, the family of nonprofit agencies combines nearly 45 years of community experience and will integrate homelessness, poverty and HIV/AIDS programs that annually serve more than 17,000 people.
It’s a strategic partnership, designed to allow each program to operate independently while sharing management and overhead costs and oversight. Each agency will retain its existing name, mission, boards of directors and program staff.
Joel John Roberts, executive director of PATH, will be the chief executive of the new umbrella agency, and Brigitte Tweddell will continue as executive director of Project New Hope and Homestead Hospice and Shelters under the new alliance.
“This is an extraordinary opportunity to mount a better coordinated approach to the very foundations of homelessness and its tangential crises centers,” said Roberts. “Together we will promote opportunity, self-sufficiency and dignity for low income and homeless people, including those with HIV/AIDS.”
Project New Hope Board Chair David Nahas said: “Achieving greater efficiencies through consolidating resources will enable our organizations to better serve their clients and create an even greater continuum of care for a larger population within Los Angeles County.”
PATH will continue its employment, housing, and support services for homeless and at-risk adults and families, including access to nearly two-dozen private and public service agencies at its various facilities in Los Angeles.
Homestead will now provide comprehensive HIV/AIDS service within the alliance, as well as operating assisted living centers in Lawndale, Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Pedro, Van Nuys and West Hills.
Project New Hope will focus on developing affordable permanent housing (it currently operates nearly 200 units throughout Los Angeles and in Santa Monica) and providing special needs services for people with HIV/AIDS.
PATH Partners provides a model for bringing together supportive service agencies with permanent affordable housing developers in keeping with the national “Housing First” movement that emphasizes permanent housing over short-term emergency shelters for the homeless.“This is a strategic collaboration aimed at enhancing the efficiency with which each agency’s vital services are distributed to the neediest populations while maximizing their individual effectiveness,” said Roberts.
