Guadalupe Homeless Project
The Guadalupe Homeless Project (GHP) was founded by community residents in 1988, when they decided to open the doors to their most sacred space, Dolores Mission Church, so that unhoused refugee families could sleep there.
To this day, GHP’s men’s shelter continues to operate out of Dolores Mission Church, serving 124 men in 2024. In 2014, GHP established a women’s shelter, the only one in Los Angeles dedicated to women over 55, serving up to 15 women at a time. In 2024, it provided essential care to a total of 45 women.
GHP provides more than just shelter, meals, and showers - we offer strategic wraparound support with a “whole-person” approach, enabling residents to restore their sense of self and dignity. We connect residents to resources and services, including mental health, job skills, English classes, and substance prevention, so that they can become financially and emotionally prepared to transition to housing.
GHP provides a close-knit community where residents are welcomed and enmeshed into the fabric of the Boyle Heights community. While most neighborhoods would resist having a homeless shelter in their area, the Boyle Heights community welcomes our shelters. It plays an instrumental role in integrating shelter residents into community life, such as by providing them with meals each night. This helps mitigate feelings of isolation that clients often experience, contributing to the program's high transition rate to housing.