Anonymous
By the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara
Construction on the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara’s (HACSB) newest affordable housing project, Vera Cruz Village, is nearing completion. Vera Cruz Village will be located at 116 E. Cota Street and is designated for special needs and homeless individuals. The Housing Authority developed this project in response to the critical need for more permanent supportive housing units in the city of Santa Barbara.
Many of the incoming residents at Vera Cruz Village will have few possessions and little to no income, which is why 2nd Story Associates, HACSB’s affiliate nonprofit, is encouraging local community members to offer additional support in the form of monetary donations through its Furnishing Hope program.
The Furnishing Hope program supports Housing Authority clients that are more vulnerable, such as seniors, disabled individuals, and those coming from homelessness, with beds and other basic household items, including Welcome Home Kits, to make their new living space truly feel like home.
“Moving into a place of one’s own can be a powerful turning point for individuals that have experienced homelessness,” said HACSB Resident Programs Supervisor, Alice Villarreal Redit. “Simple comforts, such as having a bed to sleep in and a kitchen to cook in, can help to create a restorative and stabilizing space. With additional support from the community, we can provide household essentials that will help to make each of these 28 new homes complete.”
A donation of any amount will cover the cost of providing a formerly homeless individual with essential items upon moving in such as bed linens, cookware, kitchen utensils, toiletries, etc. To learn more or make a donation, please visit: http://www.2nd-story.org/vera-cruz-court-adoptaroom
Earlier this month, The Women’s Fund provided 2nd Story Associates with a $50,000 grant to supply furniture for all 28 units at Vera Cruz Village. The Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara is a volunteer-led collective donor organization that enables women to combine charitable dollars into significant grants addressing the critical needs of women, children, and families in south Santa Barbara County. With this generous grant, HACSB and 2nd Story Associates will be able to provide beds, dressers, dining tables, chairs, lamps and nightstands for each unit.
Construction on the 28-unit affordable housing project is expected to be completed late summer 2023 and will feature the following:
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Regular on-site supportive services including case management and instructor-led educational and health and wellness classes available to residents free of charge.
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Free in-unit internet service.
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A full-time on-site manager to oversee the apartment complex.
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A community room for resident programs, group activities, and support groups.
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Controlled access points for entering and exiting the property.
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No parking demand for residents, reducing the traffic impact of the area.
To learn more about donation opportunities for Vera Cruz Village, please contact Alice Villarreal Redit at (805) 897-1036 or visit http://www.2nd-story.org/vera-cruz-court-adoptaroom.
About 2nd Story Associates
2nd Story Associates is a nonprofit corporation created to support the development of affordable housing and promote social services for the benefit of low-income members of the Santa Barbara community. 2nd Story creates opportunities that serve the needs of low-income households by providing Housing Authority residents with opportunities to access needed health and social services. The organization’s programs and services seek to enhance the quality of life of low-income families, seniors and disabled individuals with an emphasis on promoting stability and self-sufficiency. For more information, please visit 2nd-story.org/.
About Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara
The Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara is a local public agency created for the purpose of providing safe, decent, and quality affordable housing and supportive services to eligible persons with limited incomes, through a variety of federal, state, local and private resources. Since 1969, the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara has developed and/or secured over 4,000 units of affordable rental housing for Santa Barbara through a variety of federal, state, local and private funding sources. For more information, please visit hacsb.org.
Sounds to me like he did read it and has a valid concern. I agree with him too.
Why shouldn’t people who have been living on the sidewalk or in bushes, living off of garbage leftovers and whatever people toss their way be able to have a tiny place to live for what they can afford? I’m sure your free to live their life as well if you want that. Go for it. Where do you suggest placing homes for the most vulnerable in our society? How far away from downtown is acceptable for you?
These are a real slap in the face to all the low/middle income families and individuals struggling to find affordable housing in the community where they work and contribute. People working 3 jobs are being forced to move to Oxnard while people making nothing get free housing 2 blocks from State Street. Yes, we need to house people living on the streets, but not in the heart of a prime commercial and real estate area.
So Bosco, did you bother to read any of the article or did you base your response on the headline?
Since you believe that the people who will be helped by this housing don’t deserve to live “in the heart of a prime commercial and real estate area.”, where do you think it would be acceptable for them to live in the city?
The problem is that our whole area is prime real estate. Perhaps Bosco would feel better if the free housing were put right next to the freeway, which is generally seen as less desirable, but this site on East Cota is what was available. I do understand the feeling. So many of us struggle to afford even crummy places, while (a few) other people get a free studio apartment. But if we don’t build where we can, these folk will remain on the street, which is a problem for our community.
What’s that quote again? The rich people convince the middle class people that the poor are the cause of all their problems…
This isn’t just a local thing. Even cheap, small town USA is having the same issues. Cannot afford rent without more than one job, and forget it if you are a single parent – a single income won’t cover rent and daycare.
The question Sac, maybe another Edhat commenter, and also – don’t forget – the City of Santa Barbara – are apparently asking is this:
“Why shouldn’t the homeless/unhoused be able to live in a brand new development, within a block of State St., on one of the most expensive pieces of property in CA, without any income, and and also – all at the taxpayers’ expense?”
That’s the question you’re asking. Want to rethink that? Is that your final answer?
Yup BASIC, that’s my question (not “answer,” as that word means something different. Please take a look at dictionary.com to help yourself). If you’re so jealous of the impoverished disabled and street people having a dignified, tiny room to lay their heads at night, go join them.
Also, “all at the taxpayers’ expense?” – LOL…. no, Buckaroo. It’s not, you liar. It’s “affordable,” not “free” housing. What’s more, is those without income will receive support from the NONPROFIT group by means of DONATIONS (from good people, not you). READ THE ARTICLE before you start crying about how good the homeless and destitute have it.
Newsflash: It’s Santa Barbara. It’s ALL “expensive property.”
Go back and try again.
“Vera Cruz Village is a 28-unit studio complex
designated for 1-2 member households who are
currently homeless or at risk of homelessness.
To qualify applicants must also be 62 years of age or
older, a person with a disability or a household of 2
members. All units will have Project Based subsidy so
tenants will pay a portion of their income toward rent
and the remainder is paid by the Housing Authority.”
The Housing authority works to build/ create supportive housing however they can. There are supportive housing apartments in IV, and I’m sure you know about the Super 8 in Goleta. I’m not sure why there should be any particular limit to building new or changing existing housing – it’s whatever they can manage. Also, read the tidbit above, pulled from the website link above. Are you really that angry about poor and homeless (or at risk) elderly and disabled? Also note that they will pay a portion of their income towards rent.
BASIC – Glad you enjoyed my “answer.”
Sac, if you actually think this is 100% funded by donations, I’ve got a nice bridge to sell you, and you’re the one who needs to start thinking critically. Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara might have sucked you in.
BASIC – nope, never said that. All I said was it is NOT “all at the taxpayers’ expense,” like you lied about it being. Time to start reading comments and the articles they’re in reference to.
I think the issue is not where housing should ne located or v who is going to live there, but rather it’s the folks working three jobs to exist. Why work three jobs when if you do nothing, excluding those with disabilities, you get housing. What happened to working, saving and sacrificing for what you want- obviously not happening today.
Only a few people who “do nothing” will get free housing, so it’s not a good bet to make. And this program isn’t pretending to make life fair. It’s trying to get people off the streets, which may benefit the community in general.
To paraphrase LBJ: “If you can convince the lowest person working three jobs to exist that he’s better than the best person living in affordable housing, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
> What happened to working, saving and sacrificing for what you want- obviously not happening today.
Didn’t you just mention that people are working three jobs just to exist?
What’s obvious is that you’re a fundamentally dishonest person. And it’s because of people like you and the policies and politicians you favor that there are people who have to work three jobs just to exist.
The problems this project is trying to address go so much deeper than the local level. People can’t afford to support families or even themselves anymore, even though they work full-time. The reason for that goes deeper than the right vs. left puppet show, to the basic structure of the economy where we have let corporations and the ultra-wealthy extract wealth from the vast majority. They have bought and paid for both parties many times over. Most people are fighting over the leftover scraps and a few are starting to fight against the oligarchy. When that fighting cannot be done through discussion or the ballot box, it is only a matter of when, not if, a revolution or drastic and chaotic shock to the system occurs.
@ChillingGrillin
This sort of bothsidesing is part of why these problems persist. The right supports and enables corporations and the ultra-wealthy extracting wealth from the vast majority while the left opposes it–that’s basically what “left” and “right” *mean* — the terms come from the French legislature where the aristocrats and supporters of the monarchy sat on the right side and those opposed to them sat on the left. As for the parties, the Republicans are entirely on the right while the Democrats have left and right leaning factions. Intelligent and informed people favor Democrats over Republicans (as Bernie said, “Hillary on her worst day is infinitely better than the Republicans on their best day”) and favor left-leaning Democrats over right-leaning Democrats.
US business rarely pays a living wage and those at the top do not pay a fair share of their wealth in taxes any more. The result is greater income inequality and governments having fewer resources to provide for the “general welfare” in our Constitution. Laws our elected officials create are no longer helping the middle class and poor with opportunities. High density privately developed housing (AUDs) should have been required to be 100% affordable for workers of middle and lower incomes with the percent of each equal to the needs in the community. 20% of any AUD to be “affordable” is silly and does not meet needs. Let’s rebuild the middle class. Organize and demand a new Federal minimum wage and demand an increase in taxes on those who have made their millions and billions on the labor of the rest of us. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/millionaires-higher-taxes-on-rich-davos-inequality/ . Some very wealthy in the US have a conscience. Join them and advocate for the rest of humanity.
Some of your ideas may have merit, but few developers will build housing if they can’t make a profit. Land costs and construction costs are high. We could have the government build housing, but the costs will still be high, and funding must be found.
ahchoo, zero private developers would build housing if they couldn’t make a profit.