|
Ruth Schwartz is the founder and Executive Director of Shelter Partnership, a non-profit
private/public partnership which provides technical, developmental, material and public
policy support for Los Angeles' housing system for the homeless as a means to end
homelessness in the region. Over the past 19 years, Shelter Partnership has assisted in
the creation of both transitional and permanent, affordable housing with social support
services for homeless individuals and families. Shelter Partnership has been instrumental
in securing permanent housing for over 7,000 homeless individuals and families at rents
that they can afford. Shelter Partnership also performs critical studies on homelessness
and the housing delivery system. These include the needs of domestic violence victims,
single women, emancipated foster youth, persons with a dual-diagnosis of mental illness
and substance abuse and a major study on housing needs of homeless and low income
persons living with HIV/AIDS.
The Shelter Resource Bank Program, an award-winning project of Shelter Partnership, has secured more than $120 million in new excess inventory, distributed free of charge to
more than 200 shelters, housing developments and social service agencies in Los Angeles
County.
Shelter Partnership was instrumental in Los Angeles' designation as the second Homeless
Initiative City by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development which
resulted in the community receiving a $20 million grant for innovative homeless efforts.
The Partnership also regularly advises local governments on public policy and programmatic issues and has played key roles in the development of the City of Los Angeles' Section 8 Homeless Assistance Program and the regional Housing for Persons with AIDS Program (HOPWA).
In 2003, Shelter Partnership took the lead role in developing the L.A. HOPE project, a multi-agency collaborative designed to secure permanent, supportive housing and employment to homeless individuals who have been chronically homeless and have a mental illness. The federal funding is intended to promote integration and systems change within the One-Stop Employment system. Since 1999, Shelter Partnership has worked very closely with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health in the development of housing in conjunction with the innovative State-funded Integrated Services for Homeless Mentally Ill program, otherwise known as “AB 2034.”
Ms. Schwartz has served on a number of boards and advisory committees, including the Senate Bipartisan Task Force on the Homeless, the California Housing Loan and Grant Advisory Committee, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing Developers and the Los Angeles Emergency Food and Shelter Local Board. She has received numerous awards and in March 2002 was honored as the outstanding non-profit by the National Alliance to End Homelessness at an awards ceremony held at the Kennedy Center in Washington D. C. Ms. Schwartz has been active for over 25 years, both at the community level and professionally in the field of low-income housing development and policy. Ms. Schwartz has her Master's Degree from the University of California at Los Angeles' School of Architecture & Urban Planning.
|
home