Redondo Beach’s housing navigator Lila Omura and Jason Newton celebrate the recent opening of Project Moonstone, a 20-unit Project Homekey development in Redondo Beach, where Newton is now living.

Jason Newton, a student at El Camino College, will graduate with an associate degree in business administration in December. His plan is to transfer to a school in the California State University system to continue his education. While this is a major accomplishment for anyone, for Newton, who completed much of his journey while unhoused, the road was extra-long.

“Because of these people and programs, I’m able to do what I came here to do—thrive,” he said.

He shared his gratitude with an audience of city and county leaders in October at the opening celebration of The Moonstone, a place that since July he has called home. The Moonstone is a 20-unit Project Homekey development located at the former Pacific Inn Motel on Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach. The permanent-supportive housing site—now managed by Oasis Residential Services—provides support and onsite services to local individuals transitioning out of homelessness.

After spending most of his youth in foster care, Newton found himself in multiple instances of homelessness across several states as an adult. Following years of stability in Kentucky, he moved to Redondo Beach during the pandemic to help members of his family through a tough situation.

He landed work at a restaurant in Redondo Beach, but soon he found himself unhoused. He slept on the ground, under lifeguard stands, in a tent and in a hammock. Eventually he obtained a California driver’s license and purchased a car, which would then serve as his home while he worked various second jobs.

In time, Newton connected with Lila Omura, a housing navigator for Redondo Beach. Through her help, he was able to move into Redondo Beach’s 15-unit pallet shelter, which provides temporary housing and help toward the goal of more permanent housing solutions like Moonstone.

A FUNCTIONAL ZERO MINDSET
Newton is one of about 300 members of the city’s unhoused community to benefit from Redondo Beach’s involvement in a pilot program called Functional Zero Street Homelessness. The opportunity was introduced by the South Bay Cities Council of Governments’ (SBCCOG) homeless services manager Ronson Chu.

To reach this benchmark, under a framework developed by Chu’s team, the number of individuals who become homeless within Redondo Beach must be less than or equal to the number of individuals who move out of homelessness over a six-month period. The city’s homeless population—as a whole—must also have a median street duration of less than 90 days.

Beginning in July 2023, Chu met weekly with Redondo Beach’s housing navigator Lila Omura, city attorney Mike Webb, quality of life prosecutor Joy Ford and others working on the homeless services front lines to meticulously track and review a roster of unhoused individuals at a micro level and discuss person-centered interventions for each.
Through this work, Newton was identified as a candidate for residency at Project Moonstone, which opened in July.

Redondo Beach achieved functional zero in June 2024. Specifically for the January- to-June measurement period, the city had an inflow of 65 homeless individuals and an outflow of 66. The median street duration for the population also dropped to 14 days, with 25 active street cases—down from 261 in 2017, according to the SBCCOG’s functional zero calculations.
On October 30, 2024, the city celebrated reaching this milestone at the Redondo Beach Historic Library. At the event, Chu explained the functional zero mindset.

Redondo Beach and the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) recently celebrated reaching functional zero. Second District L.A. County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell (front, second from right) said she is ready to take the SBCCOG’s pilot program county-wide. Top row (from left): Hermosa Beach Mayor Dean Francois, Redondo Beach housing navigator Lila Omura and SBCCOG homeless services manager Ronson Chu. Middle row: Redondo Beach quality of life prosecutor Joy Ford, Redondo Beach Mayor Pro Tem Paige Kaluderovic, SBCCOG homeless services project coordinator Addy Ajijolaiya, and Hermosa Beach Council Member Ray Jackson. Front row: Redondo Beach city attorney Mike Webb, SBCCOG executive director Jacki Bacharach, Holly J. Mitchell and SBCCOG homeless services project coordinator Miranda Werts.

“I think we should, as a county, stop thinking about this as a 75,000 people problem [the 2024 homeless count in L.A. County],” he said. “Whether it’s Westwood or Torrance—the average homeless count per community is between 150 to 300 individuals. If every community would just focus on that small population, L.A. County would get to functional zero.”

Access to and close tracking of data, which Chu and others on the front lines have long lamented as the missing pieces in the homeless management system, but are now made possible with the functional zero framework help cities more accurately target programs and services needed and funding for those resources. This includes $1.3 million in funding recently obtained from health
insurance provider Health Net and $800,000 from 2nd District L.A. County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell to expand the city’s pallet shelter to 40 beds and to launch a mobile alternative
crisis response program, a nonuniformed response to individuals with behavioral health emergencies.

“I’m really excited to partner with all of you and see where this takes us. We can hit functional zero for the entire county,” Mitchell told the audience of city and county leaders while speaking at the functional zero celebration event.

THE JOURNEY TO FUNCTIONAL ZERO
For Redondo Beach, the journey really began long before the functional zero term was coined. Back in 2017, the city hired a case manager to tackle its homeless count of 261 people. Tasked with addressing the city’s growing homeless issue, City Attorney Mike Webb launched multiple programs utilizing federal, state and county funding and collaborated to provide resources for the city’s unhoused:

  • Homeless Court – In 2020 Redondo Beach launched the first-of-its-kind outdoor Homeless Court during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Homeless Court program gives homeless defendants
    the opportunity to complete social programs in exchange for clearing their backgrounds. In addition to its federal HOME American Rescue Plan funding allocation, the city leveraged $500,000 in state investment, secured by 66th District Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi to support the Homeless Court program.
  • Pallet Shelter Interim Housing – In 2021, with funding from L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, the city opened its first 15-unit pallet shelter to help facilitate housing readiness for participants (in partnership with Harbor Interfaith Services). To sustain the pallet shelter, the city has utilized roughly $500,000 in state Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention funds.

  • Superior Court Judge Kelly M. Kelley presides over Redondo Beach Homeless Court, which gives homeless defendants the opportunity to complete social programs in exchange for clearing their backgrounds.

    Project Homekey Housing Site – In 2024 the city opened Project Moonstone, 20 units of interim housing at a former hotel site, in partnership with Century Housing. The site is the city’s first state-funded Project Homekey housing site. Project Homekey provides regional and local public entities an opportunity to develop a broad range of housing types as interim or permanent housing.

  • Client Aid and Single Room Occupancy Beds – With L.A. County voter-passed Measure H funding, the SBCCOG has provided city participants with just-intime Client Aid funding to city and agency case managers. This pays for expenses to place clients in housing, shelter or an employment situation. Funds can also be used for needs such as transportation expenses for job interviews or family reunification, assistance with first/ last months’ rent, security deposits and application fees. Measure H dollars have also funded single-room occupancy beds through Swami International, a regional property management company.

In addition, L.A. County’s CEO-Homeless Initiatives Office has also been instrumental in delivering state and Measure H funding and in providing technical assistance to the city.

“In striving to maintain Functional Zero, we are working closely with our partners to also include aftercare for those in housing so they don’t return to the streets, as well as programs to help those most at risk of becoming homeless,” said Webb.

THE NEXT PHASE
Now eager to give back, Newton’s next chapter includes accepting an appointment to serve on the city’s Housing Authority Commission—a group consisting of the mayor and council members and two current Section 8 housing program tenants. But most importantly, he’s now enjoying freedom he never felt without a roof over his head.

“I get to follow my dreams, my goals, and at the same time I get to help out the community and help these things grow and show that they work and that they are needed,” Newton said.

Over the next six months, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Torrance will be the next cities to work with the SBCCOG using its functional zero framework. •