Homeless recuperative care center being built in San Fernando Valley

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- For 10 years, Lisa Somes lived on the streets and the rough conditions led to 30 hospitalizations within three years.

Each time she was released back on the streets, she would end up sick again.

Somes wasn't the only one trapped in that endless cycle. Each year, about 1,000 homeless people are discharged from San Fernando Valley hospitals. Many of them have no place to go.

"It just is not dignified to take a homeless person that might still be in a gown from a hospital and dump them back on the street. We're working to solve that problem here in the Valley," said Kenneth Craft, president and CEO of Hope of the Valley.

Now, construction is underway in the first-of-its-kind 16,000 square foot facility that will offer physical, mental and transitional care for the homeless. CEO Ken Craft gave Eyewitness News an exclusive look at the new center.

He said the center, called Hope for the Valley, will fill a desperate need. Other recuperative care centers require clients to be able to walk, but Hope for the Valley will take patients who cannot.

Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills is one of 17 local hospitals that will be able to send their discharged patients there.

There will be a day room where the patients will have computers and counselors to help them find jobs and housing specifications that can provide them a home. The goal is to make sure this will be the last time patients will need homeless care services.

"We will work and do everything within our power to place them into permanent housing," Craft said.

Among its many services, the 30-bed center will offer skilled nursing care, a full service cafeteria and dining hall, wound care and physical therapy.

Somes has been off the streets for a year, but she knows the many people she left behind who can truly benefit from a place like Hope for the Valley.

Once operational, the area hospitals will pay for their homeless patients to go to the Hope of the Valley. Expert estimate recuperative care is one-tenth the cost of staying in the hospital, but the organization needs private donations to cover other costs.

To find out how you can help, visit www.hopeofthevalley.org.