New Tujunga apartment building, Project Homekey, to house homeless

Los Angeles is tackling homelessness one piece at a time and a new 34-unit Project Homekey, $9.5 million state funded apartment building is home to those who have struggled on the streets.

The Tujunga building is part of L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez's homeless outreach. Rodriguez said her office has now made 500 housing units available for those living on the streets.

City leaders say this is progress, one person at a time, and the Tujunga apartment building may be a model of things to come. 

One 59-year-old resident talks about how she was in disbelief when she got her house keys.  "I thought it was fake, until they gave me the keys. I was like, this is real. You don't believe it after a while," said resident Cristina Smith. "I was like, no this is a trick."    

Councilwoman Rodriguez knows this is just a small piece of the work that needs to be done with the homeless. "Thirty-four units in the chunk that we have to address in Los Angeles is certainly insufficient - but I've taken the responsibility in my own district to chip away at it every singe day. And this represents progress for my district." said Rodriguez.

The Tujunga building on Hillhaven Avenue includes on-site case management, service coordination, education and employment services.