The story of Home4LAYouth began not in a boardroom, but in the heart of the Los Angeles community.
As young volunteers, Home4LAYouth's co-founders (Arjun and Noor Mathew) witnessed a devastating reality: the moment youth age out of the foster care system, the safety net frays then disappears.
A transition that should be hopeful with possibility is instead defined by challenges, primarily housing insecurity. The siblings saw a clear need for a safe place to land, and a foundation for young people to grow.
Established Since 2017
Driven by this firsthand experience, Arjun and Noor offered designated units from their family's apartment building at a special rate — creating a stable, supportive home environment where young people could focus on their future, not their next rent payment.
Today, the youth founders are now college-educated adults, ready to relaunch and expand this mission, ensuring more young people experience the stability they deserve.
Our vision is to see more young people in Los Angeles, CA safely housed.
The Urgent Need
Our mission is grounded in reality: homelessness is a defining issue at a national and local level.
Transition Age Youth (TAY) identified that they need to have a space of their own. Growing up in foster care limits the opportunity to have your own bedroom. Due to the limited number of foster homes, youth in foster care often have roommates. This trend continues in the available transitional housing programs.
In existing programs, Youth are partnered with roommates not of their choosing. This creates a dynamic in which the level of trust and comfort in their own living spaces are greatly diminished.
Micro-Units
TAY prefer smaller, manageable living spaces that are easy to maintain. Micro-units provide an efficient housing solution that supports independence while meeting youth needs.
Units are pre-furnished, recognizing that most youth have limited personal belongings and benefit from immediate, functional housing.
Centrally Located
Limited affordable housing options often force youth to move far from Los Angeles city centers, disconnecting them from schools, jobs, and support networks.
Centrally located housing helps youth remain connected to community resources, transportation, and opportunities essential for long-term success.
The Challenge Ahead
Without family support or savings, the lack of affordable, transitional housing leaves too many with no options.
As we relaunch in 2026, the need for stable, discounted housing is critical. We are scaling our capacity to meet this growing demand and ensure that the success stories we’ve already built can multiply.
Home4LAYouth’s mission is to prevent youth homelessness by providing first ever homes for youths who “age out” of foster care and students facing a housing crisis.
“Having this opportunity to take my first steps forward into adult-hood has been truly amazing.
Not to say that it’s not without share ups and downs of course. But with each new struggle I gain a world worthy of experience that helps me to grow and mature into my own person. In this day and age it’s next to impossible to find a place to rent on my own for a reasonable price in LA.
Having the privilege to take part in this program has helped in making me learn to be me and learn to be comfortable in my own skin. For that I am forever grateful.”
-Antwoine
Kenisha's Story
Video Testimonials
Since 18, I have been living on my own
...working multiple jobs just to make ends meet, settling with housing just to experience horrible living situations… and having the uncertainty of where I’ll live once I had reached a certain age limit.
[Now I have] my own apartment to myself. [Homes4LAYouth] has offered me the opportunity to reside in DTLA and afford housing giving me the certainty I hopelessly yearned for!"
-Kenisha
Tony's Story
Video Testimonials
"It’s super important to have a space to call your own.”
-Tony
Ray's Story
Video Testimonials
“The gift I got that was better than housing was the moment of clarity.”
-Ray
Special Thanks
To All Who Have Supported Home4LAYouths!
This mission is a community lift. We greatly appreciate everyone who has given time or resources toward challenging youth homelessness with us. Subscribe for updates.
