PCF’s Capital Grant will help ready this multifamily property on Worcester Avenue in Pasadena for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
To help address California’s housing affordability crisis, Pasadena Community Foundation continues to prioritize the creation of housing for individuals and families. PCF’s Affordable Housing Initiative was launched in 2019 with a goal to fund projects that add much-needed shelter and beds, permanent supportive housing, and affordable housing options for renters and those able to pursue home ownership.
Furthering this goal with their recent PCF Capital Grants are two organizations: HOPE (Home Ownership for Personal Empowerment) and San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity.
San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity offers eligible low-income families affordable home ownership opportunities. Since the San Gabriel Valley chapter’s founding in 1990, it has helped more than 200 families build or improve the place they call home.
Habitat for Humanity will use its PCF Capital Grant in support of its Howard Navarro Project, which broke ground in summer of 2021 and comprises two-attached homes at the corner of Howard Street and Navarro Avenue in Northwest Pasadena. Executive Director Bryan Wong explains why it is critical to build affordable housing in Pasadena within established neighborhoods, thereby creating what is known as communities of opportunity. “While there is a history of building affordable homes outside of established metropolitan areas due to less expensive land, it ignores the importance of ensuring those exiting homelessness and those with lower incomes can live in communities where they are connected to the resources and transportation (and can) take advantage of opportunities.”
HOPE (Home Ownership for Personal Empowerment)
HOPE, a Los Angeles-based organization, creates affordable housing for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). It too prioritizes the creation of communities of opportunities for its clients, helping them stay in familiar areas via independent living and shared housing options. “People with intellectual and developmental disabilities have always been underserved in the LA County housing market, and we are so proud that PCF has seen the need in Pasadena and joined HOPE in working toward creating a solution to this issue,” says HOPE Executive Director Kristin Martin.
HOPE will use its PCF Capital Grant to help ready its first housing project in the Pasadena area: refurbishing two multifamily properties located on Worcester Avenue and Summit Avenue. “Because of PCF’s commitment to this vital segment of our community, 14 additional individuals with I/DD are able to live in healthy, affordable housing in the city they love and grew up in,” says Martin.
