ACOF Hosts Virtual Grand Opening of $21.9 Million Permanent Supportive Housing Development in Sun Valley Community |
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Safety protocols due to the COVID health pandemic led A Community of Friends (ACOF) and Council President Nury Martinez to hold a virtual grand opening for Casa del Sol in Sun Valley, CA earlier this month. Casa del Sol is ACOF’s eighth supportive housing development in the San Fernando Valley. Remarks were provided onsite by Jacqueline Waggoner, VP and Southern California Market Leader, Enterprise Community Partners and Ann Sewill, General Manager, Housing + Community Investment Department, City of Los Angeles. Council President Martinez and several other funders celebrated Casa del Sol’s grand opening by submitting videos. Lunch was provided for all the tenants as part of the celebration.
Casa del Sol is a Proposition HHH-funded 44-unit permanent supportive housing project for seniors who have experienced homelessness and are living with a disability. To view the Casa del Sol virtual tour and hear all the speeches, click here.
The unit mix consists of 15 studios, 28 one-bedrooms, and one two-bedroom manager’s unit. Designed to meet high environmental standards, Casa del Sol is LEED® Gold Certified. On-site amenities include a community room, full-service kitchen, computer room, fitness center, on-site laundry, outdoor courtyard with seating and BBQ area. To learn more about Casa del Sol, click here.
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Beverly joined the ACOF community in 2006 and currently resides in an ACOF property in the City of Los Angeles. After becoming homeless, Beverly mentions being overtaken by humiliation, fear, and hopelessness, until she found a home with ACOF. Beverly recalls her journey as being “very difficult, you are not able to see mental illness, so people can be condescending. I did not understand myself or what was happening to me.” Since moving into ACOF, Beverly has found ways to help her better manage her mental health and has regained parts of her life that were once lost.
To learn more about Beverly and her journey, click here.
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Firestone Phoenix Reaches Various Milestones |
Firestone Phoenix, ACOF’s newest property under construction in the Florence-Firestone community of South Los Angeles, has reached several development milestones. Project milestones include the installation of community kitchen cabinets and countertops, and the installation of cabinets, countertops and flooring in all apartment units. The exterior painting of the building is now complete, siding has been installed, and scaffolding has been removed. The project is expected to be completed in early spring of 2021.
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Firestone Phoenix includes 36 supportive housing apartments for formerly homeless households. Twenty (20) of the supportive housing units will be for veterans who are homeless, chronically homeless, or homeless with a disability. Sixteen (16) of the supportive housing units will be reserved for formerly homeless households. Seven (7) apartments are for low-income families and one (1) is a manager’s unit. To learn more about Firestone Phoenix, click here.
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ACOF’s Tenant Programs receive back-to-school essentials. |
This past quarter, ACOF’s Families & Children Services Program received a variety of items including over 2,750 pairs of socks, 126 backpacks filled with school uniforms, personal hygiene products, shoes, school supplies and books, and 30 bags filled with art supplies. A special thank you to Bombas Socks, Free Arts, and Operation School Bell (a program of Assistance League Los Angeles) for their in-kind support.
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ACOF’s Family & Children Services Program helps provide children and their parents with a variety of activities aimed to nurture their cognitive, social, emotional and social development. ACOF’s Health & Housing program addresses the health care needs of its low-income tenants by incorporating emerging issues of health and housing into its practices. Activities and practices promoted support our tenant’s physical and mental health with the goal of improving the overall management of their health.
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Thank you to all of our grant funders for their generous support. |
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Bank of America Charitable Foundation
Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco
NeighborWorks America
Wescom Foundation
(grants received July - September 2020)
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ACOF is hiring!
The work at A Community of Friends is much more than a job, it is work that is meaningful and changes lives.
For the past 32 years, ACOF has demonstrated solid leadership in affordable, permanent supportive housing to those most in need. Become a part of a team that is committed and cares deeply about making a difference.
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Have you considered making an annual pledge to ACOF?
Annual pledges can be made monthly, semi-monthly and quarterly.
Have you considered leaving a legacy by including ACOF in your estate planning?
To make an online donation and/or set-up a recurring donation CLICK HERE.
For additional information on how you can support the continued work of ACOF, CLICK HERE.
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For additional information please contact our Fund Development Department.
213-480-0809 ext. 262. or email funddevelopment@acof.org
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