ɫ��ɫ

Community Landlords
& Housing Partners

Making Safe, Affordable, Quality Housing Possible for People with Serious Mental Illness

ɫ��ɫ teams up with community landlords and housing partners to help people with serious mental illness take positive steps forward on their recovery journeys. We believe in working in close, respectful partnership with our community landlords to ensure we take good care of the housing units, but take good care of clients — in a collaborative way.

If you have units to rent in your community — either individual units or congregate (shared housing) — we would love to hear from you!

Partnering with ɫ��ɫ

Who We Serve

�ձ���𳦲�����’s housing services are primarily offered to people being served in our community-based programs. These programs exist to support people with serious mental illness and complex needs — which can include a history of homelessness, incarceration, substance use, and other challenges that can create barriers to stability.

ɫ��ɫ began delivering specialized services for people who are unhoused or at risk of being unhoused in 2001 and has been expanding these programs ever since. We believe that developing supportive housing opportunities in the community is critical to the recovery journey.

Where We Operate

• California (especially Sacramento, San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Bay Area Counties)

• Washington

• Oregon

Community Housing Requirements & Paperwork

When you partner with ɫ��ɫ as a community housing partner, you can expect the following:

• ɫ��ɫ enters into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement with each community-based landlord. The MOU agreement outlines the terms and conditions of the partnership, including amenities offered by the home, general terms of agreement, number of beds, rates, payment, and the services ɫ��ɫ will provide to support clients in the home. 

• As part of the MOU agreement, ɫ��ɫ requires evidence of active property insurance if the home is owned by the housing vendor or a lease agreement if the vendor is renting the home.

• The MOU agreement also includes a required Housing Quality Standards (HQS) Inspections on the home. This process is very similar to the HUD NSPIRE (National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate) process.

  • Initial inspection: ɫ��ɫ program staff will complete an initial inspection when beginning our partnership with the housing vendor. The HQS process is a visual and observational inspection of the housing ɫ��ɫ wants to use for our clients. The vendor is an active part of the HQS inspection — and must be on-site to answer questions and orient staff to the condition of the home. This helps us ensure that everything in the home meets reasonable habitability standards, which is a requirement to execute the MOU agreement.

  • Recurring inspections: Because ɫ��ɫ uses public funds to pay for client housing, we must regularly re-inspect the housing units we rent on behalf of clients. We will complete additional HQS inspections every two years and on an interim basis as needed.

“I like ɫ��ɫ because they're more interactive.
They show up, they come. They do monthly meetings with the residents. They send the nurses and the case managers over here to talk to the members. They make the members feel like they're cared for.

There have been times where we have a member that may be in a heightened situation and that member needs help and that member needs care. ɫ��ɫ has come out on the weekends to help us with that member to make sure that member made it to a safe place. ɫ��ɫ cares about the members.

I like the fact that I can I call someone.
They are interactive and they listen. Someone is on the other end of that phone — and can talk to me and can also speak to the member. It's someone on the other end of that phone that has a personal attachment and relationship, a working relationship with the member that's in the house.”

— James Brown, Community Landlord in San Diego & Long-Time ɫ��ɫ Housing Partner

About ɫ��ɫ & Housing Leadership

ɫ��ɫ

ɫ��ɫ has been dedicated to delivering recovery-centered mental health support to people with serious mental illness and complex needs since 1965.

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�ձ���𳦲�����’s Director of Housing & Homeless Services

Shannon Legere began at ɫ��ɫ in 2016 as the Regional Director of Operations in Los Angeles and Kern County, providing leadership for our La Casa and Ridgecrest programs. She now serves as �ձ���𳦲�����’s Director of Housing and Homeless Services.

Outside of ɫ��ɫ, Shannon has worked as the Chief Program Officer at PATH (People Assisting the Homeless in California). She served as Program Development Officer and held other leadership roles at Mental Health America, Los Angeles. Shannon also served as the Director of Housing and Homeless Services in Orange County.

Shannon is a social worker by training and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in California. She has been working at the intersection of homeless services, behavioral health, affordable housing development, and supportive services since 2000.

�ձ���𳦲�����’s Vice President of Facilities and Real Estate Services

Cameron Coltharp is the Vice President of Facilities and Real Estate Services at ɫ��ɫ and has been with the organization since 2001. Prior to joining ɫ��ɫ, he held facilities management roles in both the financial and healthcare sectors, including positions at a financial institution and a local blood center. 

Cameron is certified by the American Hospital Association as both a Certified Healthcare Facility Manager (CHFM) and a Certified Healthcare Constructor (CHC). He holds professional certificates in Facilities Management, Real Estate and Construction Management, and earned a bachelor’s degree in Radio and Television.

With a deep commitment to creating environments that support recovery and well-being, Cameron is passionate about developing care facilities that are welcoming, respectful, and safe for the individuals ɫ��ɫ serves. He also places a strong emphasis on designing workspaces that foster comfort, staff satisfaction, and long-term employee retention.  Cameron is particularly enthusiastic about advancing �ձ���𳦲�����’s client housing initiatives and is excited about the continued evolution of the organization’s housing quality standards.