His Sheltering Arms (HSA) has been providing treatment in South Central Los Angeles for over 32 years. The founder of HSA, Lillian Jeffries, would take young adults to Skidrow every Saturday to feed and offer encouragement to hundreds of men and women. This was to teach young adults to reach out and care for others in their communities.

 

     Ms. Jeffries had a deep desire to obtain a facility to create a safe, clean environment for women to provide them with a new start at life. She mortgaged her own home, which was paid for, to establish HSA, because she believed in investing in the lives of homeless women and their families (before it was a political platform).

 

     Lillian Jeffries was at least three decades ahead of the mainstream. It was a long tedious process, but HSA opened its door to the community on April 1, 1985. One year later (April 1, 1986) HSA officially became a Substance Abuse Recovery Program for Women.