Annabelle Gurwitch has written about her experience taking in an unhoused couple for the Los Angeles Times and in her new book, “You’re Leaving When? Adventures in Downward Mobility.” Now, she’s bringing the story to HBO. The network has put the half-hour project “If You Lived With Me You’d Be Home By Now” in development. It’s based on Gurwitch’s essay “They were homeless. I took them in. Would you?” and the corresponding book chapter in “You’re Leaving When?” Deadline broke the news.

Underwritten by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, the LA Times essay recounted Gurwitch’s participation in a program that saw Los Angeles households opening their doors to at-risk young couples experiencing homelessness.

Penned and co-exec produced by Gurwitch, “If You Lived With Me You’d Be Home By Now” centers on a woman who is “recently divorced and at the end of her financial and emotional rope,” the source describes. She “takes in boarders who are also at the end of their financial and emotional rope, and everyone’s life changes, for better and worse.”

HBO optioned the rights to “You’re Leaving When?” which was published earlier this year. Gurwitch’s essay was awarded second place for excellence in journalism as a columnist by The Los Angeles Times Press Club.

Gurwitch is also the author of essay collections “I See You Made an Effort” and “Wherever You Go, There They Are.” She co-hosts the podcast “Tiny Victories” and has written for NPR, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and other outlets. Also an actress, her credits include “Better Things,” “Pollock,” and “Not Necessarily the News.”