LOS ANGELES — Nonprofits and religious institutions in South Los Angeles focused on homelessness will receive $10,000 to enhance their ability to compete for government funding, officials announced Monday.

What You Need To Know

  • Nonprofits and religious institutions in South Los Angeles focused on homelessness will receive $10,000 to continue their work

  • The LA Homeless Services Authority awarded 50 organizations as part of its Small Agency and Faith-Based Organization Capacity Building Fund Pilot

  • Awardees such as A Meaningful Goal Housing Shelter, Apostolic Deliverance Center Church, Black Hospitality Workers, Brother Love, among others, can use the funds for grant writers, financial and data management software, outreach consultants, staff training and tax professionals

  • Successful applicants had to meet five criteria: Be a small agency, serve South LA, provide direct services to homeless individuals such as outreach or temporary housing, have an annual operating budget of $300,000 or less, and must have been in operation for at least three years

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority awarded 50 organizations as part of its Small Agency and Faith-Based Organization Capacity Building Fund Pilot.

Awardees such as A Meaningful Goal Housing Shelter, Apostolic Deliverance Center Church, Black Hospitality Workers, Brother Love, among others, can use the funds for grant writers, financial and data management software, outreach consultants, staff training and tax professionals.

"Historically, faith-based and small organizations are left out of government funding, but addressing homelessness is an all-hands-on-deck crisis, and we need to explore every avenue to get people off the street and on a path to permanent housing," Va Lecia Adams Kellum, CEO of LAHSA, said in a statement.

"By building the capacity of these organizations so they can receive government funding, LAHSA is providing additional first touch points for our unsheltered neighbors through someone they already trust," she added.

Specifically, the pilot program is operating in Service Planning Area 6, which covers South Los Angeles.

Successful applicants had to meet five criteria: Be a small agency, serve South LA, provide direct services to homeless individuals such as outreach or temporary housing, have an annual operating budget of $300,000 or less, and must have been in operation for at least three years.

"This pilot is an excellent opportunity to change the equity divide by expanding the number of providers serving people in South LA," LAHSA Deputy Chief Equity Officer Saba Mwine-Chang said in a statement.

"By developing more service providers that can deliver culturally specific services, our unhoused neighbors will see themselves reflected in the people helping them, making it easier to build the rapport and trust necessary for someone to come inside and work toward securing a permanent home," she continued.

Funds for the pilot came from the Home for Good Funders Collaborative, an initiative of United Way of Greater Los Angeles that provides more than $75 million in grants to nonprofit organizations working to end chronic homelessness in LA County, according to LAHSA.