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One way to help homeless families? Offer them child care services
The new child care center at a Woodland Hills family shelter.
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Elly Yu
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LAist
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A family shelter in Woodland Hills is opening a new Head Start center on site to serve families experiencing homelessness.
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One way to help homeless families? Offer them child care services
It’s one of a few, but growing number of child care centers operating alongside a homeless shelter.
Working with the Child Care Resource Center, the new Head Start will offer full-day early education for two dozen toddlers and preschoolers who live on site.
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“It’s a big help,” said Karen Zelaya, a case manager with Hope the Mission, which runs the 100-unit shelter. “That way the families can look for housing, can look for employment. If they wanna go to school, they can go and study, continue their education.”
A recent review of data by LAist found homelessness has not improved among L.A. County families since 2024. The lack of reliable child care is a big barrier for families trying to find stable housing, Zelaya said.
Liliana Leyva, who sits with her playful 3-year-old son, says having a Head Start on site will be a big help.
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Elly Yu
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LAist
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Liliana Leyva had her 3-year-old in Head Start in another part of town, but had to pull him out after she moved into the shelter about a month ago. She said having a center on site will be a huge relief.
“It’s not overwhelming, I don’t have to stress, it's really going to help my family when I start working,” she said.
The new child care center used to be an abandoned Denny’s and was renovated through philanthropic support, said Ken Craft, CEO at Hope the Mission.
“Most shelters just don't have the space and they wouldn't necessarily have the funding to create it,” he said.
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Hope the Mission runs a family shelter in Woodland Hills, where about 200 kids live.
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Elly Yu
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Today, the center has a colorful mural, an outdoor play area and lots of natural light.
The Child Care Resource Center, which will run the Head Start, will also help families connect to other subsidized child care services when they move out of the shelter.
“ Homelessness is not just a housing crisis, it's a crisis of early childhood development, education and wellbeing,” Craft said.
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