Grant Needs Statement

On a recent Tuesday in 90011, a single mother called our hotline in tears: “When my rent went up $400 in one month, the hotline helped me understand my rights and find a plan so my kids could stay in the same school.” Her story mirrors what many South Los Angeles renters face in 90011, 90003, and 90044—fast-rising rents, confusing rules, and the fear of losing home and community.

In these three ZIP codes, roughly three in four households are renters (DataLA, 2021). Countywide, more than half of renter households pay over 30% of income on rent and about a third pay over 50%, straining budgets and making any rent hike or job disruption a crisis (Harvard JCHS using ACS, 2024). Asking rents in the Los Angeles area have climbed sharply since 2020, outpacing wage gains for low-income workers (Zillow, 2024). Eviction filings have also rebounded since pandemic protections ended, with neighborhood-level data in South LA needed to target prevention. Data needed: Latest 2024 eviction filing rates and lockout counts for South LA ZIP codes; verify via LA Superior Court eviction filings and LAHD quarterly reports.

The burden is not equal. Low-income Black and Latino renters, immigrant families, and single mothers are most affected by rent burdens and eviction risk. Black renters face disproportionate eviction filings nationally (Urban Institute, 2022), and locally Black Angelenos are vastly overrepresented among people experiencing homelessness—evidence of what happens when prevention fails (LAHSA, 2024).

Root causes include the gap between rents and earnings, limited supply of affordable units even under the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance (about 640,000 RSO units citywide) (LAHD, 2023), language and digital barriers to navigating aid, and uneven access to legal help.

Today, the demand for early, practical support in South LA exceeds available capacity. Too many tenants learn about rights or rental assistance only after an eviction notice. The desired state is simple: timely, neighborhood-based help that resolves rent shortfalls early, stops illegal lockouts, and equips tenants with clear, culturally responsive information.

If we do nothing, families will be displaced, children will change schools mid-year, and more neighbors will enter the homelessness system—outcomes that are far more costly to reverse than to prevent.

This need directly aligns with the Southland Community Foundation – Housing Stability Fund: preventing homelessness and displacement in Los Angeles County through upstream eviction prevention and equitable support for BIPOC and immigrant renters in high-instability communities like 90011, 90003, and 90044.

South LA Renters Resource Center is ready to act—with bilingual staff rooted in the neighborhood, trusted partnerships, and an evidence-based model that blends eviction prevention triage, rental assistance navigation, and tenant rights education. With your support, we will scale timely, local help so South LA families can stay housed and stable.

Sources - DataLA (City of Los Angeles Open Data), ACS 2017–2021 profiles by ZIP: https://data.lacity.org - Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, America’s Rental Housing (ACS-based), 2024: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu - Zillow Observed Rent Index (Los Angeles Metro), 2024: https://www.zillow.com/research/data/ - LAHSA, 2024 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count: https://www.lahsa.org - Los Angeles Housing Department, Rent Stabilization Ordinance overview, 2023: https://housing.lacity.org - Urban Institute, Eviction disparities research, 2022: https://www.urban.org

In Hazard, a first-time mother from Letcher County shared, “My doula helped me ask questions I didn’t know I could, and for the first time I felt heard in the delivery room.” Her experience reflects a broader reality in Letcher, Harlan, and Perry Counties: skilled support and clear care navigation are often the difference between a safe birth and a crisis.

The challenge is urgent and measurable. Nearly one in three residents in these counties lives below the poverty line, elevating barriers to prenatal care and postpartum recovery (U.S. Census Bureau, 2022). More than half of Kentucky births are financed by Medicaid, underscoring the need for services that are accessible to low-income families (Kentucky Open Data, 2023). Kentucky’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee reports that the vast majority of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable (KDPH MMRC, 2023). At the same time, parts of Eastern Kentucky face limited access to obstetric providers and facilities, with counties designated as having low maternity care access (March of Dimes, 2023). Nationally, maternal mortality rose to 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021 before easing in 2022, keeping attention on prevention and early support (CDC, 2024).

Those most affected include pregnant and postpartum people in rural communities—especially Medicaid-enrolled families and individuals impacted by substance use disorder—who face long travel distances, fluctuating insurance coverage, limited transportation, and stigma in care settings. Contributing factors include provider shortages, fragmented referrals between prenatal, behavioral health, and social services, and insufficient nonclinical supports that build trust, continuity, and self-advocacy.

Across these counties, there is a clear gap between need and capacity. Community doula care, perinatal peer support, and care navigation remain thin and are not consistently integrated with health departments, OB practices, or recovery programs. Data needed: 2023–2024 severe maternal morbidity rates and OB/GYN provider density for Letcher, Harlan, and Perry Counties; verify via KDPH Vital Statistics and Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure data.

Without action, preventable complications, preterm births, and family stress will persist, increasing costs for Medicaid and deepening inequities. With action, we can advance maternal and infant health, rural health equity, and the reduction of preventable maternal morbidity and mortality in Appalachian Kentucky counties within the health plan’s service area.

Appalachian Birth & Health Partnership (ABHP) is positioned to respond. We are locally rooted, partner with county health departments and regional hospitals, and deploy an evidence-based community doula and perinatal peer-recovery model that reaches families in hard-to-reach hollers and recovery housing. Our navigators connect families to timely prenatal, behavioral health, and social supports.

With Bluegrass Health Plan Foundation’s support, ABHP will expand community doula care, peer support, and coordinated navigation so more Eastern Kentucky families experience respectful, safe, and connected care from pregnancy through the first year postpartum.

Sources - Kentucky Department for Public Health, Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC), 2023: https://chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/dmch/Pages/maternal-mortality.aspx - Kentucky Open Data Portal, Maternal and Child Health indicators, 2023: https://data.ky.gov - U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates, 2022: https://data.census.gov - March of Dimes, 2023 Maternity Care Deserts Report: https://www.marchofdimes.org/research/maternity-care-deserts-report.aspx - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System/NCHS, 2024: https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternal-mortality/

On a 112-degree afternoon in Maryvale, a 74-year-old neighbor explained, “I keep the air off to save on the bill, but by afternoon my apartment feels like an oven and I start getting dizzy.” For many older adults living alone across Phoenix–Mesa–Scottsdale, this is a daily calculation with life-or-death implications.

Maricopa County confirmed 645 heat-associated deaths in 2023—a 52% increase from 2022 and the highest on record (MCDPH, 2023). Phoenix also experienced 31 consecutive days at or above 110°F in July 2023, underscoring a trend toward longer, more intense heat waves (City of Phoenix Office of Heat Response & Mitigation, 2024). Locally, the City’s Heat Vulnerability Index identifies Maryvale and South Phoenix as “very high” risk areas due to a combination of built-environment and socioeconomic factors (City of Phoenix OHRM via Phoenix Open Data, 2023). In Maricopa County, about 26% of adults 65+ live alone, increasing isolation and risk during extreme heat (U.S. Census Bureau ACS, 2022).

Low-income older adults are disproportionately affected. Many live in older buildings with inefficient cooling and face high energy burdens: low-income households in Maricopa County spend roughly 8–9% of income on energy—well above common affordability thresholds (DOE LEAD Tool, 2024). Language access, mobility limits, and fixed incomes compound risk in Maryvale, South Phoenix, and parts of Mesa.

Root causes span systems: aging housing stock and limited weatherization; energy affordability challenges; limited tree canopy and heat-retaining infrastructure; and fragmented awareness of available assistance. The current safety net—cooling centers, seasonal outreach, and emergency response—cannot substitute for safe, affordable home cooling for homebound seniors. Wait times for home repairs and lack of coordinated, neighborhood-level case finding leave many residents unseen until a crisis.

If unaddressed, we can expect rising emergency calls, preventable hospitalizations and deaths, and deeper utility arrears and shutoffs during peak heat, straining households and the grid.

This need aligns with SunWest Energy Foundation priorities: advancing energy affordability and customer resilience, protecting vulnerable seniors during extreme weather, and focusing on Central Arizona’s highest heat-risk neighborhoods. Desert Resilience Alliance is positioned to help: we operate in Maryvale, South Phoenix, and Mesa with bilingual community health workers, formal partnerships with the City’s Office of Heat Response & Mitigation and MCDPH, and a data-informed model that links home cooling support to rapid emergency coordination. Unlike peers, we combine door-to-door senior outreach with same-week minor cooling fixes and direct referral pathways to utility and city programs.

With SunWest’s support, we will expand home cooling support, neighborhood outreach, and emergency response coordination to protect low-income older adults living alone in heat-vulnerable Maricopa County neighborhoods.

Data needed: 2024 block-group heat-related ER visit rates and out-of-hospital death data for Maryvale and South Phoenix; verify via MCDPH Heat Illness Surveillance and Arizona Department of Health Services hospital discharge datasets.

Sources: - Maricopa County Department of Public Health (Heat Surveillance): https://www.maricopa.gov/1858/Heat-Surveillance - City of Phoenix Office of Heat Response & Mitigation: https://www.phoenix.gov/heat and Heat Vulnerability (Phoenix Open Data): https://phoenixopendata.com - U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year (2022): https://data.census.gov - U.S. DOE LEAD Tool (2024), Energy Burden Estimates: https://www.energy.gov/eere/slsc/maps/lead-tool