Awaiting New Home

Next summer, Alberta Tucker and her three grandchildren will move into a new housing complex in North Hollywood--one that she can afford.

Tucker had joined the ranks of the homeless three months ago and now lives in a temporary shelter. But next year, Tucker will live at Harmony Village, an 18-unit, low-income housing complex being built by the L. A. Family Housing Corp. and the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn.

“I think it’s great,” said Tucker, who attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the complex Wednesday. “I probably would have been in the streets with my granddaughters, and that’s no place for children.”

Formerly homeless residents will pay between $200 and $300 per month for the two-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath apartments. The complex will offer child care and a full-time social worker, said Arnold Stalk, executive director of L. A. Family Housing Corp., which operates several low-income housing programs.

“Our philosophy is we just don’t want to warehouse people,” Stalk said. “We want a system where people can see some long-term economic and social self-sufficiency.”

Tucker said her granddaughters are eagerly awaiting the move.

“They are overjoyed,” Tucker said. “We’re ready to start putting our lives together and being a family unit.”