Nearly 300 families experiencing homelessness were invited to attend a back-to-school fair in Sylmar to receive free backpacks, school supplies, books, sneakers and T-shirts to help children get ready for the new school year, which begins on Monday, Aug. 12.
For Michelle Remillard, who is living in interim housing with her husband and their two special needs kids, trying to keep up with expenses is challenging. That’s why she appreciated the chance to attend the recent giveaway event hosted by Los Angeles Family Housing (LAFH), which helps individuals and families with interim and permanent housing placements and other services.
“The money I saved today, because we were able to get items we needed for free, will either go towards food to feed my kids or go into the gas tank to drive them to school,” said Remillard. “Every little bit helps.”
Remillard is a food service worker at a local school and her husband has a management job – but despite having two incomes they haven’t been able to save enough money to secure a permanent home of their own due to the high cost of rent and the short supply of affordable housing in the San Fernando Valley, which is where they hope to remain because “this has always been our home.”
An added hurdle is that “managers are looking for the perfect renters with perfect credit,” she explained.
“We’re trying to be patient – the [LAFH] is trying very hard to find a place for our family,” said Remillard. In the meantime, she noted, the back-to-school event “helped tremendously.”
“This event is not only lovely, but it’s also necessary for people who are struggling to pay their everyday bills and everything else,” she said. “It’s costly having to get children back to school – from shoes and shirts, to school supplies and backpacks. This event helps ease the pain.”
“We’re here to help these parents on their journey out of homelessness – today is a step in that journey,” said Stephanie Klasky-Gamer, president and CEO of LAFH, which is based in North Hollywood and serves the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.
The long-term goal is to support individuals and families – who all have different circumstances that led to homelessness, explained Klasky-Gamer – with resources to facilitate their transition from homelessness to temporary housing, and eventually to finding a permanent home, she said.
Starting Over
Riccy Arriaga said LAFH helped her family to get back on their feet. The organization assisted Arriaga, her husband and their two kids with long-term interim housing – they shared a motel room for more than 18 months – and they recently moved into their own apartment, she said.
“Thank God we are finally situated in our own home,” said Arriaga. “We’ve gone through some really difficult times, and I’m so glad we finally have some stability, especially for our children.”
Arriaga said her family’s challenges began when she was near the end of her pregnancy with her second child. She was fired from her cleaning job and unable to find new work. Without her income, they could no longer afford to pay for the room they were renting, and when Arriaga went to the hospital to give birth, they were evicted and found themselves suddenly homeless.
“We didn’t know what to do – we even lost a lot of our belongings because they wouldn’t let us go back in to get our things, ” said Arriaga, an immigrant and monolingual Spanish speaker. At one point, she said they even resorted to living in their car with their newborn for over a week.
“It was such a terrible time, but thankfully a friend told me about [LAFH] and said they help families like us,” she said. “It was such a relief to know we had a safe place to sleep at night [in the interim housing] at the hotel. And now it’s even better, being in our own apartment.”
Though things are moving in a positive direction, she said they still face struggles, especially financially.
“That’s why this event today is wonderful,” said Arriaga, who attended with her husband and their two sons, ages 3 and 7. “It’s really helpful for us and for the other families who are here. It makes such a difference, because many of us parents don’t have the resources to buy everything our children need right now so they can be prepared to go back to school. I feel so grateful.”
The annual “Back-to-School Extravaganza” was open to clients of LAFH, and was co-hosted by City National Bank on the grounds of the Vagabond Inn in Sylmar, in partnership with Soles4Souls, Kid Dangerous, the Los Angeles Public Library and LA Unified School District.
Families in need of support who would like information about LAFH services can call (818) 255-2766; individuals can call (818) 255-2703. For more information, go to: lafh.org/connect.