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Event Description

Earlier this year, the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) released the report, “Increasing Latino Homelessness – What’s Happening, Why, and What to Do About It.” Latinx experiencing homelessness increased by 8% between 2020 and 2022, with a 16% increase in those who were do not have a shelter. These increases outpaced overall increases in homelessness across the nation. Across the largest CoCs nationwide by PIT Count, Latinx homelessness increased more (or decreased less) than the overall homeless population change in every case. In Los Angeles, a recent LA Times article noted that, “Homelessness among Latinos has shot up in Los Angeles County while other demographic groups have seen a decline over the last two years.” The stats show that in Los Angeles, people who experience homelessness rose by 4% across the county, but for the Latinx community it rose by nearly 26%.

What does this mean for LA and funders looking to support efforts to prevent and end homelessness for this population? Find out on Monday, May 1st as Funders Together to End Homelessness – Los Angeles Network and Southern California Grantmakers, co-host a conversation around Latinx Homelessness in Los Angeles County. Join us virtually as we hear from Dr. Melissa Chinchilla, one of the co-authors of the NAEH report, LAHSA Commissioner Irene Muro, and Marco Santana, Director of Engagement with LA Family Housing.

All participants will receive a confirmation with webinar platform information.

Speakers

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Kristin Aldana-Taday SCG Member

Program Officer, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Kristin Aldana-Taday coordinates grantmaking activities for the Program Department of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Aldana-Taday monitors current grants and supports the development, review, and presentation of grant proposals, with a focus on the Foundation’s Homelessness initiative, for consideration by the Foundation board of directors. Prior to joining the Hilton Foundation, Aldana-Taday worked for the Liberty Hill Foundation, where she directed donor services with a focus on donor engagement activities and donor advised funds. Aldana-Taday also previously worked for Pacoima Beautiful, an environmental justice organization in Los Angeles. She holds a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology and urban studies from the University of California, San Diego.
Headshot of Dr. Melissa Chinchilla

Melissa Chinchilla

Project Scientist, UCLA

Dr. Melissa Chinchilla is a Project Scientist in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a Health Services Researcher with the VA Greater Los Angeles. Prior to joining the VA, Dr. Chinchilla was a Research Scientist with AltaMed Health Service’s Institute for Health Equity, one of the largest Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in the nation, serving over 300,000 low-income patients in Southern California.

Dr. Chinchilla’s research focuses on the social determinants of health, with an emphasis on housing and homelessness. Among other work, her research focuses on increasing our understanding of Latinx homelessness including barriers to homeless services connection and culturally relevant engagement strategies. Her work has been published in various journals including Cityscape, the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, and the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. She also serves on several local and national committee’s including the National Alliance to End Homelessness’ Research Council and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Race and Ethnicity Homeless Data Work Group and was appointed by the former Mayor of the City of Los Angeles (Mayor Eric Garcetti) to serve as a Commissioner for the Los Angeles Homelessness Services Authority.

Dr. Chinchilla earned her doctorate in Urban Studies and Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds a Master of Science in Health Policy and Management from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Master of City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a Los Angeles native.
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Michael Durham

Director of Networks, Funders Together to End Homelessness

Michael Durham is the Director of Networks for Funders Together to End Homelessness. In this role, he mobilizes Funders Together members in communities of practice and networks organized around topics or regions, including a group focused on youth homelessness, all pointed in the direction of housing justice and liberation. Prior to joining Funders Together, Michael spent nine years at the National Health Care for the Homeless Council where he specialized in street medicine, alternatives to law enforcement, and workplace racial equity organizing, in addition to healthcare access for people without homes. He also serves as the Board President of the Village at Glencliff, a bridge housing and recuperative care facility in Nashville. Michael brings an abolitionist lens to the work of ending homelessness and oppression and thrives on connecting complex policy to spiritual integration.
Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a Master of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt Divinity School. A proud single parent, he resides in the neighborhood in which he grew up in Nashville with his two daughters.
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Irene Muro

Executive Director, Whittier Area First Day Coalition; Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Commissioner, Appointee for Supervisor Janice Hahn, SD 4

This is a headshot photo of Marco Santana in a grey suit with

Marco Santana

Director of Engagement, LA Family Housing

Marco Santana is a first generation Mexican-American who was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. He's worked as a public servant his whole life, the last 5 years of which has been as the Director of Engagement at LA Family Housing where he oversees admission to all shelter, case management, PSH, and homeless prevention programs. Additionally, Marco is very involved in his community where he serves on the board of 2 non-profits; the Mid-Valley YMCA, and ICON CDC - a nonprofit focused on entrepreneurship opportunities within people of color. Marco is also actively involved in his community's civic engagement as he serves as an officer of two local political organizations.

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