Leigh Avenue Senior Apartments

Welcomes 64 Previously Homeless Senior Households

Leigh Avenue Senior Apartments will be welcoming residents in April! This 64 unit complex will house chronically homeless seniors requiring in-home supportive services and will be managed by Abode Services, in partnership with the Housing Authority. We're so thankful for the Housing Trust Silicon Valley's "Finally Home" program which many future residents are taking advantage of. The Finally Home Security Deposit program provides a one-time grant up to $2,500 to individuals and families moving to permanent supportive housing. This is a huge help to residents who are attempting to improve their quality of life by getting off the streets. Located at 1690 Southwest Expressway at Leigh Avenue in San Jose, we can celebrate that this beautiful, light-filled, sustainable development is slated to achieve LEED Platinum certification. In addition, these apartments are a pilot project for the Healthy Building Network’s HomeFree Initiative, whose goal is to improve the health of residents in affordable housing through the use of less toxic building materials. The project is located within 1,550 feet of a light rail station and every resident will receive a free, annual VTA transit pass providing free bus and light rail throughout Santa Clara County. Drive by, have a look and plan to join us in the fall for a grand opening ceremony!

FCH Video Have you seen our latest video?! We are very pleased to share this recent video which gives a great overview of First Community Housing as we continue to build sustainable affordable homes – and, as we grow and expand our programs and staff. A BIG thank you goes out to Mayor Liccardo for his support of FCH efforts! You can see the passion that goes into our work and the love of our community. Please share!

Iamesi Village Update

134 Units of Housing for Homeless Community Members

Iamesi Village is only a few months away from construction completion! The site is located on approximately 0.7 acres at the intersection of Bassett and Terraine Streets in downtown San Jose. This five-story, 135 unit apartment building will offer 118 studio units, and 16 one-bedroom units. Award-winning architectural firm OJK Architecture and Planning designed these apartments to enhance the existing neighborhood. The building features LEED Platinum green building design and a large exterior landscaped podium with community gardens. This development is devoted entirely to veterans, chronically homeless individuals, and people with intellectual / developmental disabilities at 30-50% of the Area Median Income. Residents will be selected by the Veterans’ Administration, the County of Santa Clara Office of Supportive Housing, and Housing Choices Coalition. Construction for this project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2021. Learn More

Ava Kuo Promoted to Associate Director of Development

Join us in congratulating Ava Kuo! Ava has been promoted to Associate Director of Housing Development at First Community Housing. “I am excited to announce the promotion of Ava from Senior Project Manager to Associate Director of Housing Development,” notes Regina Celestin Williams, Director of Housing Development. “Ava has been with FCH for more than 4 years and has contributed greatly to her role on the Development Team by managing two of FCH's new housing developments under construction, securing competitive statewide funding for FCH's developments such as an award of Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities funding, tax-exempt bond financing, and breaking ground on a development project that had been in FCH’s pipeline for more than 10 years among other things.”  Read more about this exciting news here.

Program Highlight Transit Access for Residents

FCH has installed 12 Electronic Vehicle Charging Stations at our Troy Apartments in San Jose. We are continuing to roll-out this program by installing EV Chargers at several other properties in the portfolio this summer. We're also adding more transportation resources for our residents at Betty Anne Gardens as part of a pilot program for mobility hubs. Our goal is to provide access to transportation resources for residents in order to promote sustainability and increased easy, affordable access to all transit.  FCH offers VTA SmartPasses to all of our residents of buildings in Santa Clara County. These transit passes provide the user unlimited ridership on VTA bus and light-rail throughout the County. FCH purchases more than 3,000 transit passes annually for our residents. In other transit news, Community Cycles of CA has donated 10 children's bikes to Betty Anne Gardens residents! FCH and Community Cycles have partnered for many years in order to bring biking and bicycle workshops to FCH residents.

Our Transit Hub Manager, Nyan notes, "Residents at BAG have always showed interest in bike programs (especially the kids). In order to make it more accessible and safe for them, the Mobility Hubs project is one that aims to fulfill the transportation needs of the residents by bringing safe, sustainable and equitable resources for them." Thanks Community Cycles, Betty Anne Gardens staff and the FCH team involved for making this program run smoothly and making many children VERY happy!

We're Hiring!

FCH is looking to hire a Construction Manager to assist in the oversight of design and construction activities on new construction projects and existing properties. We are also searching for a Senior Project Manager to manage the development of an assigned group of projects from feasibility analysis through construction. Interested? Send your resume to Regina Celestin Williams, ReginaCW@firsthousing.org. More here: firsthousing/careers.

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www.firsthousing.org

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