Wellnest and Holos Communities have partnered to develop housing for Transition Age Youth (TAY), ages 18-25. The Nest on Jefferson will be a new, beautifully designed, 55 unit, five-story, Permanent Supportive Housing building located in the heart of Los Angeles and will include a Community Wellness Center.
Also, the Nest on Jefferson Community Wellness Center has been selected to receive $8 million through the California Department of Health Care Services’ (DHCS) Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP).
The Community Wellness Center will be located on the ground floor of the future development to meet a vital community need for expanded access to behavioral health services, giving Los Angeles new opportunities to address gaps in care and create sustainable improvements that better serve the behavioral health needs of the local community. Employing an innovative, multi-phase approach will allow the Community Wellness Center to begin construction and open first to serve the community while housing will be achieved through a second phase.
“We are grateful to the California Department of Health Care Services’ Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program for their vision and their generous investment in behavioral health and community care that advance racial and geographic equity,” said Charlene Dimas-Peinado, Wellnest president/CEO.
“The Community Wellness Center is a unique community-based project that will simultaneously address health, wellness, and equity by increasing access to behavioral health services for vulnerable young people living in South Los Angeles.”
Wellnest has a successful history of supporting young adults with mental health and supportive housing services while Holos Communities specializes in cutting-edge innovations with developing affordable and permanent supportive housing. Both are uniquely suited to meet the most critical, emerging needs of young Angelenos as they recognize that housing is a key factor affecting physical and behavioral health.
“We are incredibly excited to be partnering with Wellnest and especially to be splitting the project into two phases which will help reduce both cost and time and allow the Community Wellness Center and connected pocket park to open and begin serving the community much sooner,” said Cristian Ahumada, Holos Communities executive director.
“The ability to split the ground floor construction and other essential infrastructure for a five-story building, from the rest of the project is a new model in creating mixed-use developments.”
The Nest on Jefferson is part of Governor Gavin Newson’s Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health, which awarded $480.5 million for fifty-four projects to improve California’s behavioral health infrastructure for children and youth. This historic investment provides grant funding to construct new facilities and expand existing facilities that help children, youth, transition-age youth, and perinatal individuals that require mental health and/or substance use support.