family in need

One of our clients is a single mother of two. She and her two sons fled their previous home two months ago when there was a drive by shooting on their street. That night the family went to stay at a relative’s place in Bellflower because of the danger in their neighborhood. However, when they returned the next day, their house had been broken into and almost everything had been stolen. The mother contacted OPHS and wanted to be re-housed in Bellflower. After a brief episode of homelessness, we’ve been able to move her into a new place and will be providing her with assistance for a short while longer as she gets back on her feet. The family is doing much better and are very grateful for the assistance they’ve received. However, the client has been struggling to provide her two sons with some basic living needs. If anyone would like to donate shoes or clothing, please call our office at 562.804.2189. Any clothing that is still in good condition would be great. The boys wear sizes 5T and 6. Their shoe sizes are: kids 8-9 and 10-11.

Paramount Success Story

In early February, a woman got in touch with us who had been living in Paramount. Her husband had just left her and their two daughters and she was forced to move out of their apartment because she could no longer afford the rent. She and her daughters had been sleeping in their car for a short time before contacting OPHS in February. Although the woman works full time, her wages were being garnished because of a past eviction so she needed assistance in order to move into a new place. We were able to get her into housing in early March and have been supplying minimal rental assistance for the past few months. Our assistance will continue until the garnishments end in July and the family will become completely self-sustaining. The family is thrilled to be in their own place and off the streets. However, they are still in need of some basic essentials. The client and her two daughters don’t really have any furniture. Since they don’t own a bed or a couch, all three of them sleep on the floor. If anyone would like to donate a bed, couch, or other household items to this family, please call OPHS at 562.804.2189. It’s a very tangible opportunity to really change this family’s life.

Lakewood Success Story

A few months ago, Our Place Housing Solutions received a call from Dionne Labostrie. Dionne had heard about OPHS from a CalWorks employee when she expressed to them that she was having a hard time paying rent because her disability checks weren’t coming in. OPHS decided that she would be a great fit for the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program, which provides short term financial assistance for people who are either homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless. Dionne didn’t know how she was going to be able to pay her rent and feared that her family would soon become homeless. OPHS was able to assist Dionne with a few months worth of rent, as well as create a budget plan for her to better manage and control her monthly income. With this help, Dionne was able to get caught up on all of her payments and is now completely sustaining her family. Dionne said that her overall experience with OPHS was exceptional and that “OPHS was a life saver and stress reliever for me and my family”.

Pics from May 1 Volunteer Day

If you’re interested in volunteering at Project Oak, please email us at v o l u n t e e r @ o u r p l a c e h o u s i n g s o l u t i o n s . o r g

P.S. Thank you, Jerome Park, for taking photos at our workday!