Hope the Mission
Hope the Mission
Considered the first step in a journey to becoming housed again, The Navigation Center, located at 11839 Sherman Way in North Hollywood, is a starting point for homeless men, women and children to getting sheltered, employed and eventually housed. According to Hope of the Valley’s Founder/CEO, Ken Craft, “The North Hollywood Navigation Center is another critical component in our efforts to bring healing and hope to the men and women living on the streets of our community. This facility features storage for the belongings of our unhoused neighbors in the Southeast Valley, classroom facilities, a computer lab and showers and restroom facilities to provide an opportunity for our neighbors to find some measure of hygiene and dignity despite their present housing situation.” People who walk in are able to sign up for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Agency’s Coordinated Entry System [CES], assigned a case worker and added to a waiting list to get matched with housing assistance and other services. Onsite, each client will have access to showers, storage bins and case managers as well as job training and placement, and a computer lab where people experiencing homelessness can look for job opportunities and services. The center assists people with short term needs, builds trust and makes a connection to social workers that can serve as a way out of homelessness.
Having a place to store our things is a basic need many of us take for granted. When we go to work, a doctor’s appointment, an interview, or simply leave the house we don’t worry about whether our last remaining set of clean clothes, or our bed or lunch will be there when we return. Many people facing homelessness have no place to store items necessary to living on the streets (like extra clothes and blankets), or vital records (like birth certificates, taxes and other important records) much less cherished personal items (like family pictures and keepsakes). Lugging these items from place to place, protecting them from theft and damage by the elements often complicates efforts to find work and housing. At the Navigation Center people can store their items indefinitely, without fear of theft while at job interviews, medical appointments or even work. 120 bins, re-purposed as storage containers can be checked out at no cost. This kind of storage is an often overlooked basic need that is a first step in providing hope and helping the homeless take their first step off the street.
This navigation center is a place where people will be welcomed and treated with the dignity and the respect that they deserve.
–Laurie Craft, Senior Director of Programs, Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission
The NoHo Navigation Center is a critical access point and gateway to assist single men and women experiencing homelessness.
–Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti