Event Description

While we know that housing is the solution to homelessness, Los Angeles recognizes that there is a humanitarian crisis within our larger housing crisis that must be addressed. Homelessness on our streets has grown in visibility and these individuals live with untreated health conditions, unmanaged substance use, victimization, and lack of access to basic hygiene and sanitation services, shaving decades off their lives. As we continue to successfully build more long-term housing solutions in LA, our community is looking to grow short-term relief and resources for those living unsheltered today. 

During this session, Christina Miller of the Hilton Foundation will moderate a conversation between local leaders Eric Ares and Sarah Rubinstein from United Way Home For Good; and Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum from St. Joseph Center, on how LA has been expanding services and resources to respond to this crisis and learn about The Street Strategy For L.A. County, an outline of strategies to keep people safer on our streets and create more places to go and pathways to get there. We will also take a closer look at the best practices and lessons learned recent encampment resolutions.

We hope you can join us in this timely discussion!

Speakers

Christina Miller SCG Member

Senior Advocacy Officer, Homelessness, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Christina Miller serves as a program officer for the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation's Homelessness Initiative. In this position, she supports the Foundation’s strategic grantmaking focused on ending chronic homelessness in Los Angeles County. She serves as a key thought partner and is responsible for managing key areas of the Homelessness initiative’s grant portfolio.

Before coming to the Foundation, Miller served as senior policy fellow for California State Policy National Alliance to End Homelessness, and worked with California state government to advance solutions to homelessness in California. Previously, Miller was the deputy mayor of city homelessness initiatives for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, where she was responsible for overseeing the city’s response and policy development to homelessness strategies and the city’s comprehensive homelessness plan. Miller also spent a decade addressing the issues of homelessness, poverty, and adequate mental health services in the nonprofit sector through direct service, policy and advocacy work. Specifically, she worked at LA Family Housing, a low-income housing developer and lead service provider in the San Fernando Valley.

Miller holds a Master of Science in Counseling, Option in Marriage and Family Therapy from California State University, Northridge, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from California State University Channel Islands, Camarillo.

Eric Ares

Manager, Homeless Systems Change, United Way of Greater Los Angeles

Sarah Rubinstein SCG Member

Manager, Homelessness Initiatives, United Way of Greater Los Angeles

Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum's Headshot Photo

Va Lecia Adams Kellum

Chief Executive Director, St. Joseph Center

Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum joined St. Joseph Center in 2008 as President and CEO. Under her leadership, St. Joseph Center has tripled its staff, expanded its services, and broadened its geographic reach, becoming a recognized leader in homeless services throughout LA County.

Dr. Adams Kellum holds a gubernatorial appointment to the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s No Place Like Home Program Advisory Committee.

She also served on and continues to support the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Ad Hoc Committee on Black People Experiencing Homelessness, as well as the National Alliance to End Homelessness’ Race Equity Network. She currently sits on the Housing California Board, Policy Lab Advisory Board, and the Board of Trustees for Mount Saint Mary’s University.

Born and raised in Southern California, Dr. Adams Kellum graduated with a B.A. from the University of Southern California and earned an M.A. from Ball State University before completing her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at Stanford University.

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