More than a hundred homeless women in Los Angeles County will have a temporary place to stay beginning in April, after a local homeless services agency approved the use of $2.5 million in Measure H funding for a housing program.

The funding will go to four service providers to pay for 115 beds for women 18 years and over at so-called “bridge housing” facilities, which are temporary shelters that include additional services, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority officials said.

RELATED STORY: ‘I’ve had to become tough’: How homeless women survive the dangers of Skid Row

This type of housing differs from the traditional shelters in that the aim is to make sure that instead of going back to the streets, its residents are placed in more permanent housing.

The bridge housing funding was announced just as many winter shelters used by homeless individuals to escape the freezing weather are expected to close their doors for the season.

RELATED STORY: L.A.’s winter homeless shelter program could go year-round under new rules

The funds were approved by the commission that oversees the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which is an agency run by city- and county-appointed representatives.

The number of beds paid for by the $2.5 million is a drop in the bucket compared to the increasing need among women who are homeless.

RELATED STORY: For LA’s homeless, winter shelters offer hope – until they close

The number of women who are homeless went up 16 percent in 2017 to 17,882, according to LAHSA figures. Some women who are homeless manage to find shelters to stay in, but the proportion who are able to do that has drastically fallen, with a 70 percent increase in unsheltered women between 2009 and 2016.

“This allocation is another example of Measure H funds addressing a critical need in homeless services,” the authority’s executive director, Peter Lynn, said.