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Agency addresses growing need for affordable housing
It is an indisputable fact that affordable housing is one of the greatest needs facing South Coast residents. And if it weren't for the work of the Santa Barbara Community Housing Corporation, the situation could be a whole lot worse.
The nonprofit housing development organization has created 600 affordable housing units and partnered with private developers to provide another 400 homes since its inception in 1975. Thousands of people, from working professionals to extremely low-income people, have a place they call home because of the CHC.
"We have to be flexible because there are so many sources of funds to be tapped and so many ways to serve a diverse group of people," said Susan Boehlje, executive director.
Because the need for housing reflects the complexity of problems facing those who need an affordable place to live, the CHC has become involved in the social-services business over the years. Those served range from the indigent poor and low-income working families to seniors, the developmentally disabled and those with mental illness.
For example, the corporation manages the 30-unit Hotel de Riviera, a residential program for persons suffering from mental illness and alcohol/drug addiction. The program has drawn praise from the federal Housing and Urban Development Department.
The nonprofit serves more than folks identified by society as needy. The CHC has built condominiums for moderate-income people, such as La Colina Village in San Roque, a 50-unit complex that is home to teachers, blue-collar workers and others who could not otherwise afford to live in the community where they work.
Unfortunately, Boehlje said, many of the people who used to buy the nonprofit's condos are now unable to afford even moderately priced homes. They are looking to rent instead.
In spite of the growing affordable housing shortage, the CHC continues its steady work of creating new homes. It recently finished the 118-unit Positano Apartments across from San Marcos High School, and future plans include El Encanto Apartments, an 18-unit project at Calle Real and Ellwood Station Road in west Goleta.
For more information, call the CHC at 963-9644. |
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The corporation wears many hats in the affordable housing business, including construction of new housing, rehabilitation of existing affordable housing and conversion to nonprofit/cooperative ownership, assistance to the private and public sectors in planning and implementing housing programs and on-site management of approximately 20 projects it has developed.