LOS ANGELES — It’s Wednesday morning and Terra Deveraux is packing up her belongings . . . again.

It’s her fifth move in as many months. But this time is different. 

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“Being able to move to a place where you’re better understood and have better resources is always exciting,” Deveraux told Spectrum News 1. 

Deveraux is one of a dozen people who’ll make up the inaugural class of Casa de Zulma, the first ever publicly funded bridge housing project for transgender women in Los Angeles County. 

She moved to L.A. from Alabama in July, after a man physically assaulted her outside a restaurant —  an attack that landed her in the hospital. 

"At that point in time I was like, I've got to leave," she said. "It’s very terrifying out there."

Deveraux spent her first couple of weeks in L.A. at a hotel. When the money ran out, she slept on the streets, not knowing where her next meal would come from and worried about being the target of yet another hate crime. 

“It’s one of those experiences that are just really, really hard,” she said. 

Hate crimes have hit a 16-year high. According to the FBI, the number of attacks against transgender people increased by 34 percent last year.

At least 24 trans or non-conforming Americans — mostly transgender women of color — lost their lives in 2019. Last week, authorities in Vancouver, Washington, found the body of a 17 year old transgender girl, Nikki Kuhnhausen, who went missing in July.

Many more cases of murder and violence against transgender people go unreported, according to The Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest LGBTQ advocacy group. 

Transgender people experiencing homelessness are even more vulnerable to attacks and are far more likely to experience discrimination in city shelters. Studies show that neatly a third of transgender Americans will experience homelessness in their lifetime.

Deveraux's new home holds 16 beds and will provide supportive services, including substance abuse counseling and therapy. Residents are allowed to stay for 90 days with the option to extend.

“We’ve had stories of women being attacked in shelters, women being harassed,” Jake Weinruab, a clinical program manager with APAIT, which helps manage the shelter, said. 

After picking her new room, Deveraux pulled out her favorite blanket, given to her by her mom, and laid it on her bed. 

"It was one of the last thing I got before she passed," she said, "and anywhere my mom is, is always home.”