Emergency Food and Shelter Program
Los Angeles Local Board

About Us

The Los Angeles County Emergency Food and Shelter Program is comprised of 25 member organizations. Membership includes seven mandated members, grassroots organizations, a homeless representative, social service organizations, faith based organizations, a nonprofit legal organization, government agencies and technical assistance organizations. The Local Board aims to ensure all populations and needs of the population we serve are represented.

 National Board Member Organizations
 American Red Cross
Michael Kleiner

Catholic Charities
Msgr. Gregory Cox
Mary Romero
 City of Los Angeles
Lisa Salazar
Leland Holbrook
 County of Los Angeles
Greg Robinson

 The Salvation Army
Pilar Buelna
Janette Cortez
Southern California Ecumenical Council
Patricia O'Reilly
Natalie Lambert
 United Jewish Communities
Vivian Sauer
Karen Rosenthal
United Way of Greater Los Angeles
Maria Wiest
Marguerite Womack
Other Member Organizations
Center for the Pacific Asian Family
Debra Suh
Kam Lou-Lopez
Chicana Service Action Center
Sophia Esparza
Alicia Reyes
 Chrysalis Center
Michael Graff-Weisner
Wendi Pennington
Neidy Portillo-Tseng
First A.M.E. Church
Marye Barnett
Antoinette Nelson
 
Food Pantry LAX
Alice Abram
211 Los Angeles County
Mary Sanders
Laura Mejia
 Homeless Healthcare Los Angeles
Mark Casanova
Labor Community Services
Red Godfrey
 League of California Cities
Margaret Finley
Anne Lansing
Local Initiative Support Corporation
Miguel Garcia
 
 Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority
Clementina Verjan
Steve Andryszewski
Monica Guthrie-Davis
Hunger Action Los Angeles
Frank Tamborello

 
 Project Angel Food
Margaret Steele
Public Council
Elizabeth Bluestein
Lucy Fitzpatrick
Leora Freedman
 Shelter Partnership
Ruth Schwartz
Dhakshika Wickrema
Southern California Indian Center
Edie Melendez-White
Travis Prater


The Emergency Food and Shelter National Board mandates that Local Boards must set funding priorities annually prior to the selection of agencies for funding. The Los Angeles Local Boards looked at resources available in the community, the emergency food and shelter needs of the community, gaps in services in the community and focus the dollars to address these needs in the areas of emergency food and shelter. The following populations are priorities for the Los Angeles Local Board:

1. Chronically Homeless: an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years

2. Veterans

3. Families: minor parents with child(ren): one or more adults with legal custody of minor child(ren); a couple in which one person is pregnant; grandparents or others who are legal guardians with child(ren) present; multi-generational families with grandparents, parents (adult child) and minor child(ren). Programs proposing to serve families must have provisions for accommodating the child(ren) regardless of age or gender. Programs that serve women and/or women with child(ren), but will not serve two parent families in virtue of one of the members being male, are excluded from this definition and should identify “Other Populations” as a the primary target population served.

4. Transitional Age Youth (TAY): unaccompanied persons, ages 14  to 24.