For veterans shut out of VA benefits, this Koreatown home offers a fresh start

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Galen Banks spent years cycling through addiction and homelessness after leaving the U.S. Navy with an other-than-honorable discharge.

On Monday, standing inside the Koreatown home where he has lived since April, Banks said rebuilding his life has also helped him reconnect with his daughter after nearly seven years without contact.

“I feel good. My mental health is going well,” Banks said. “When I was out there … I was using crack, I was stealing, I was breaking into people’s cars. I wasn’t talking to my daughter.”

Galen Banks, the first resident of a new affordable housing development for veterans in Koreatown, sits inside his apartment Monday, Aug. 3.

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Hanna Kang

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The LA Local

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Banks, 50, who is recovering from drug addiction, is the first resident of a new affordable housing development that transformed a historic Craftsman house into 19 individual units for veterans, many of whom had experienced homelessness and, like Banks, were discharged under conditions that often leave them ineligible for Veterans Affairs benefits.

Banks served aboard an aircraft carrier before he was discharged in 1998 after being caught smoking marijuana. After leaving the military, his addiction worsened, leading to a four-month prison sentence in 2009 on a drug paraphernalia conviction.

He was later transported from Folsom State Prison to Los Angeles to address an outstanding warrant, but after a court gave him credit for time served, he had no way to return to Fresno, where he was required to report for parole.

“That’s actually when my homelessness started, because I had no way to get back to Fresno,” he said. “And eventually, I ended up on Skid Row.”

More than a decade later, Banks is one of 19 veterans living in the converted Craftsman house, giving him his first stable home in years and the opportunity to begin rebuilding his life.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass joined housing advocates, city officials and nonprofit partners Monday to open the $16 million development, which she said demonstrates how smaller existing properties can be converted into affordable housing.

“Affordable housing doesn’t always mean large, high-rise buildings,” Bass said. “We have to think creatively to reimagine some of the historic spaces that define our communities as we accelerate the creation of more housing.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, center, joins city officials and others during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new 19-unit affordable housing development for veterans in Koreatown on Monday, Aug. 3.

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Hanna Kang

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The LA Local

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The project, developed by Holos Communities on city-owned land, preserves much of the home’s original character.

Rather than demolishing the historic Craftsman as originally planned, developers retained the facade facing the street and restored features including leaded-glass windows, high ceilings and a roof built with wood salvaged from the original home, while adding a contemporary three-story residential wing in the rear.

“It wasn’t just about historic preservation,” said Logan O’Phelan, director of operations for Holos Communities. “It also preserves resident well-being.”

O’Phelan said the building’s high windows, ceilings and porch encourage cross-ventilation and natural cooling. Retaining the house’s appearance also allows the development to resemble neighboring homes, he said, reducing the stigma sometimes associated with supportive housing.

Construction was delayed for years due to financing after Holos was awarded the site in 2019, according to O’Phelan. Ground broke in 2024. 

Residents receive intensive case management, stable housing assistance and health care connections through The People Concern. The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles committed 15 project-based vouchers for 20 years and expects to provide nearly $7 million in rental subsidies, according to officials.

Identifying 19 veterans took nearly a year because the development is specifically intended for people with other-than-honorable discharges, according to Lety Muro, a community development coordinator for Holos Communities.

On Monday, Bass said Los Angeles recently placed its 1,000th veteran into permanent housing through her House Our Vets initiative. 

For Banks, having his own space has allowed him to focus on what comes next. He hopes to get a service dog and work in peer support, helping veterans and people recovering from addiction navigate struggles similar to his own.

After moving into the building in April, Banks said he found the confidence to reconnect with the daughter he feared had written him off during the years he spent unhoused.

“But it was totally the opposite,” Banks said. “She said, ‘Where you been? I missed you.’ Yeah, we got a good relationship today.”