San Gabriel/Pomona Regional Center Housing: Life-Sharing in the San Gabriel Valley
The San Gabriel Valley is home to one of the largest and most diverse communities of families navigating disability services in all of Southern California. Across cities like Pomona, West Covina, Azusa, Claremont, and Diamond Bar, thousands of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families are searching for housing options that go beyond the traditional group home model. Many of them are served by the San Gabriel/Pomona Regional Center (SGPRC), which covers the San Gabriel Valley portion of Los Angeles County.
If you are one of those families, or a service coordinator helping one, this guide breaks down the housing pathways available through SGPRC and explains how life-sharing through Supported Living Services (SLS) works in practice.
Where SGPRC Serves
SGPRC's service area spans a wide stretch of eastern LA County. That includes Pomona, West Covina, Covina, Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, Diamond Bar, Walnut, Hacienda Heights, Rowland Heights, El Monte, Baldwin Park, Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, and Irwindale, among other communities.
The area is suburban, spread out, and increasingly expensive. Families here often face the same housing squeeze happening across Southern California: rising rents, limited vacancies, and very few landlords who understand or are willing to work with adults receiving disability services. These pressures make it harder for adults with IDD to find housing that supports both their independence and their safety.
The Three Main Housing Pathways
When families and service coordinators start exploring housing through SGPRC, the conversation typically lands on three options.
Group homes (Community Care Facilities) house multiple residents with staff supervision around the clock. They work well for individuals who need constant eyes-on support or have complex medical and behavioral needs. But they come with trade-offs: shared rooms, structured schedules set by the facility, rotating staff, and limited choice over who you live with or how you spend your day.
Supported Living Services (SLS) take the opposite approach. The individual lives in their own apartment or house in the community, with personalized support built around their goals and routines. SLS is funded through the Regional Center under Service Code 896 and can include help with finding housing, cooking, budgeting, transportation, health management, and community involvement. The individual maintains control over where they live and how their day looks. For a deeper explanation, see our guide on what Supported Living Services actually means in California.
Life-sharing is a specific model within SLS. Instead of receiving support from rotating staff or hourly aides, the individual is matched with a compatible supportive roommate who lives with them. The two share a real home, split daily life, and build a genuine relationship. The roommate provides daily support, and their services are funded through SLS. It is not a group home, not a facility, and not a staffing arrangement. It is two people sharing a home.
How Life-Sharing Works Through Homies
Homies is an SLS provider that works with SGPRC families to set up life-sharing arrangements across the San Gabriel Valley. Here is what the process looks like.
Matching comes first. We do not assign roommates. We match them based on personality, interests, lifestyle, communication style, and support needs. A good match is the foundation of everything that follows. You can see the full process on our how it works page.
Housing is in the community. Your loved one lives in a regular apartment or house in a neighborhood they choose. They are not placed somewhere. They live somewhere.
Support is built into daily life. The supportive roommate helps with cooking, grocery shopping, budgeting, medication reminders, transportation, and whatever else is in the individual's plan. But because they live together, the support happens naturally throughout the day rather than during scheduled visit windows.
One consistent person, not a rotation. In a group home, your loved one might interact with a dozen different staff members in a week. In life-sharing, they have one person who knows them deeply, who understands their routines and preferences, and who is there every day.
Families pay nothing out of pocket. Life-sharing support services are funded entirely through SGPRC under SLS. There is no cost to the family for the support itself.
How to Request SLS Through SGPRC
If your loved one is already a SGPRC client, here is how to get started with SLS and life-sharing.
1. Talk to your service coordinator. Tell them you want to explore Supported Living Services and specifically life-sharing as a housing option. Your coordinator is the gateway to getting SLS written into your loved one's plan.
2. Request an IPP meeting. The Individual Program Plan (IPP) is the document that outlines all the services your loved one receives through the Regional Center. To access SLS, it needs to be included in the IPP. You can request an IPP meeting at any time, and you do not need to wait for the annual review. Our family guide to Regional Center services walks through the IPP process step by step.
3. Identify an SLS provider. Once SLS is approved in the IPP, you choose a provider. This is where Homies comes in. We work directly with SGPRC service coordinators to set up the living arrangement, find housing, and match your loved one with the right roommate.
4. Start the matching process. We get to know your loved one through conversations with the individual, the family, and the service coordinator. We look at personality, daily routines, goals, and what kind of roommate would be the best fit. The matching process takes time, and we do not rush it.
5. Move in and build the relationship. Once a match is made and housing is secured, your loved one moves in with their new roommate. Our team stays involved with ongoing check-ins, a dedicated program manager, and a 24/7 support line.
Who Life-Sharing Is Right For
Life-sharing through SLS is a strong fit for adults with IDD who want more independence than a group home offers but still need daily support. It works well for individuals who can be left alone for a few hours, who value having a say in their daily routine, and who would benefit from a stable, one-on-one relationship rather than rotating caregivers.
It is not the right fit for everyone. If your loved one needs 24/7 eyes-on supervision, has complex medical needs requiring on-site nursing, or displays behaviors that require a trained team to manage safely, a group home with specialized staffing may be the better option. Our post on SLS vs group homes breaks down both options side by side.
What Families in the San Gabriel Valley Should Do Next
If you are a family in Pomona, West Covina, Claremont, Diamond Bar, or anywhere else in the SGPRC service area, and you have been thinking about housing options for your adult child, start the conversation with your service coordinator now. The best housing outcomes happen when families plan early, not during a crisis.
You can learn more about Homies for families, see how life-sharing works for Regional Center clients, or visit our San Gabriel/Pomona Regional Center page for information specific to your area. If you are ready to talk, reach out to our team and we will walk you through what the process looks like for your family.