There’s a new address for student success: Dunamis House.
The historic property formerly called The Evergreen hostel once housed Japanese Americans who returned to LA after being interned in World War II, giving them a chance to get back on their feet.
Now, it is the first Homekey property dedicated to serving youth, thanks to a partnership between Los Angeles County and nonprofit LA Room & Board.
“The Dunamis House will house 40 young people, including college/trade school students, experiencing homelessness in Boyle Heights,” said Supervisor Hilda Solis, who represents the County’s First District. “The County secured the Dunamis House through California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Homekey initiative. To make a greater impact, I allocated $255,000 in First District . Thank you, LA Room & Board for providing hope and opportunity through this housing program.”
“Ending homelessness requires all hands on deck,” Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative Executive Director Cheri Todoroff said. “Through the Homekey program, the state, Los Angeles County, and LA Room & Board all stepped up in a big way to help our young people look forward to a brighter future.”
“We intend to continue the legacy of providing hope and opportunity,” LA Room & Board founder Sam Prater said. “The Ancient Greek translation of Dunamis is ‘power’ and ‘potential’. Through the intentional work of our staff and community partners along with collaboration with the residents we’ll house, LA Room & Board hopes to unleash the power of our resident’s potential to create their very best lives and become more self-sufficient.”
Los Angeles County, as well as the entire state of California, experiences a troubling percentage of youth (18-24 years old) experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity.
In Los Angeles County, almost 3,000 young adults are reported to be experiencing homelessness and thousands more are at risk of experiencing homelessness, according to the most recent report from Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
When it comes to young people who are enrolled in higher education, statewide statistics show about 5% of University of California students, 10% of California State University students and 20% of California community college students have reported being homeless or housing insecure at some point in their education, according to a state Assembly report in 2022.
