LA asked Congress for millions to address homelessness. But getting the cash isn't certain
WASHINGTON — With a broken elevator and a spotty HVAC system, the Gower Street Apartments badly needed some updates when the building's owner received a surprising call earlier this year. A city housing official suggested that perhaps Congress could fund repairs to the supportive housing development for formerly homeless people.
After years of being scorned in Washington, the rebirth of congressional earmarks could help address a common conundrum confronting that building and other affordable housing developments: Lenders and governments make lots of money available to construct new housing but not to refurbish residences that already exist.
And yet that February call was the first time anyone had suggested turning to Congress for help. Community of Friends, the nonprofit owner of the Hollywood apartment building that houses 50 low-income people, many of whom are elderly or disabled, has "never received an earmark that I'm aware of in our history," CEO Dora Gallo said.
The $4 million that could flow from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles to spruce up the Gower Street Apartments, which were built is using to try to address
