The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) celebrated the grand opening of two supportive housing complexes in Venice and Torrance. The Journey Apartments in Venice has 40 apartments while the PATH West Carson Villas Apartment Complex in Torrance has 111 units, including one-, two- and three-bedroom options.  

Dr. Curley L. Bonds, LACDMH’s Chief Medical Officer, spoke alongside L.A. County Third District Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and others at the Dec. 4 event. The project was developed and managed by the Venice Community Housing Corporation and features a plaza and a courtyard for residents. 

The event’s highlight was Rebecca Rocha, a Journey Apartments tenant. Rocha spoke about her time being unhoused on the Westside, where she was embedded in a homeless community behind a local Whole Foods. She eventually found her way into a shelter, then into Journey Apartments. 

At the Dec. 13 event in Torrance, Theion Perkins, R.N., B.S.N., M.S.N., Senior Deputy Director of LACDMH’s Outpatient Care Services Division, spoke alongside L.A. County Second District Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, L.A. County Assessor Jeff Prang and others. 

The four-story permanent supportive housing community developed by PATH Ventures serves low-income and special needs individuals and families. The nearly 1.5-acre community was built on the site of a vacant grocery store and auto repair shop and features a common room, wellness space and a second-floor outdoor area. It’s also located less than a mile from Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. 

Top photo: ribbon cutting at the Journey Apartments in Venice; above: ribbon cutting at PATH Ventures in South Bay.