Homes for people with severe mental illness are rapidly closing. Will help come fast enough?
LOS ANGELES — Mark Samuel has calculated how long his willpower will last before he closes a home for people suffering from mental illness who have little money to their name.
Thirty-six months.
Then he'll tear down Sepulveda Residential in Van Nuys and put up apartments, or sell. Plans and permits for the demolition are ready to go. Developers have tried to cajole him into selling with eye-popping offers. Once he pays for the building permit, it's a done deal.
The facility's nearly 100 residents will have to move.
Some came from the streets or psychiatric hospitals and are at risk of returning. Others are veterans. Most have called Sepulveda Residential home for at least 10 years.
"These are the forgotten people. They don't have anybody," Samuel said. "It breaks my heart knowing that if I end up closing, their community is going to be lost."
Only significant reform would change Samuel's mind. He feels he's backed into a corner by a broken financial model that officials have been slow to fix — and he's not alone.
Since 2016, at least
