I first heard of Beyond Shelter when former temple president Chuck Hurewitz made a brief presentation about the organization to Temple Isaiah’s Social Action committee. Chuck explained that Beyond Shelter was just completing the development of Broadway Village II (BVII), a 50-unit service-enriched, affordable family housing complex with a Neighborhood Resource Center located at 51st and Broadway. Through Chuck I was able to meet with the undefeatable visionary and founder of Beyond Shelter, Tanya Tull, and tour the new facilities. We walked through the apartments where workers were still laying carpet and removing painter’s tape. In one three bedroom apartment, Tanya turned to me and explained that the family that would be moving into the apartment at the end of June was a couple with seven children. They had had two children, when the husband’s brother and his wife were killed in a car accident, leaving five orphans. The only way the court would let the couple adopt the five children was if they had proper housing. Walking through the empty apartments with huge windows and sunlight streaming in, Tanya explained to me that twenty five of the fifty families coming in were coming from being completely homeless. Two are victims of Katrina. Nearly fifteen families were coming off of skid row. One family was being held together by a mother with Down’s Syndrome. Standing in a small one bedroom apartment, Tanya beamed beautifully, “Wouldn’t this be perfect for a single mom with a baby?” Her pride was well-earned. I marveled at the power she hid in her small frame to have successfully turned this dream into a reality.

For more than 20 years, Tanya Tull has played a significant role in the development of innovative solutions to the crisis of homelessness, both in Los Angeles and nationwide. In 1980, she founded Para los Ninos (For the Children),  a nonprofit agency located in L.A.’s Skid Row, which operates child care and family support programs for a primarily immigrant population. In 1983, in response to the increasing number of homeless families on the streets of Los Angeles, she co-founded L.A. Family Housing Corporation, a nonprofit agency that develops emergency shelters, and transitional and permanent housing. Since 1988, her work has focused primarily on the development of new methodologies to promote systemic change. That year, she created A Community of Friends, which develops supportive permanent housing throughout L.A. County for the chronically mentally ill and other special needs populations. Also in 1988, she founded Beyond Shelter, where she currently devotes all of her time.  Dr. Tull has received much recognition for her work, including the Jefferson Award from the National Institute of Public Service (1982); the CORO Foundation Public Affairs Award (1983); Award from the National Institute of Public Service (1982); the CORO Foundation Public Affairs Award (1983); the Ralph Bunche Peace Award during the "Year of the Homeless," United Nations Organization, Pacific Chapter (1987); the Founders Award from the National Association of Fundraising Executives (1988); the Gleitsman Foundation's National Citizen Activist Award (1996); the Community Service Award from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) (2002) and, most recently, an El Angel Award from the California Latino Caucus Institute (2005).

We talked at length about the possibilities of Temple Isaiah partnering with Beyond Shelter and the incoming families at BVII. Tanya and her staff were very excited about the idea. A couple of weeks later, I met with a number of Temple Isaiah parents who had expressed interest, including Alison Myers who agreed to help chair a committee. Among some of the wonderful ideas that were brainstormed, including baby proofing all of the apartments. Within a week, we had all of the baby proofing material donated from Families First.

On June 7, a number of us went to visit BVII and talk further with Tanya and to map a plan for proceeding together. Please see some of the ways to look forward to becoming involved, and let us know if you have more ideas!