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Newsletter | February 2020
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Employee of the Year, Gabriela Ruiz, Property Manager at Villas on Higuera, pictured with U.S. Congressman 24th District Salud Carbajal
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President’s Award Winner, Lauren Nichols Project Manager, pictured with President & CEO John Fowler
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After ten years with Peoples’ Self-Help Housing, six as President & CEO, I will be retiring from my position at the end of August.
I could not have imagined how transformational this job would become. I have had the chance to swing hammers with new homeowners and shake the hands of US Senators; I have spoken to ballrooms filled with investors and listened to a child tell me what it is like to have a bedroom of their own. It has been a privilege, on behalf of PSHH, to receive the thanks of numerous people for the opportunities their housing has provided, and from youth who through education, have found a path to a future they might never thought possible.
My time with this amazing organization has been the pinnacle of not only my professional life but my personal life too. As far back as a young teen growing up in Bakersfield and seeing need all around me, I resolved to live a life of purpose, to align my life and career to raising people up and, wherever possible, to the easing of their suffering. I wanted to make a difference.
Since making that commitment, my career has been blessed with amazing opportunity, from negotiating in corporate boardrooms with suits and power brokers to, working alongside humble men in habits restoring California missions. Each time, the internal call to move on came, I questioned those impulses saying to myself, “what can be better than this?” But each new chapter in my career, quickly revealed why. Every new role, each change in position, built on the last, honing my skills and finally delivering me to Peoples’ Self-Help Housing.
And so it is here, where having worked with friars and financiers, clerics and CPA’s, having volunteered on a dozen or more nonprofit boards and served on numerous civic commissions, that I find myself working with the finest of colleagues and the most meaningful of missions. My time with PSHH has changed me as a person, and rewarded me with memories I will cherish forever.
I pledge to every partner, sponsor, donor and colleague that during the remainder of my service, neither my daily efforts nor long-term commitment to the mission will wane. I will bring as full a measure of effort to my last day as I did to my very first a decade ago; because this is so much more than just a job and a paycheck, it is my vocation, my joy, a culmination of my life’s work.
I remain humbly in your service,
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John Fowler, CPA
President/CEO
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Currently Accepting Applications!
We are now accepting applications for two exciting, new PSHH projects:
- Guadalupe Court, Guadalupe | Rental Housing for Farmworkers – application, eligibility requirements, and deadlines found at pshhc.org/looking-for-housing/
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Distinguished Property Award Winners!
Each quarter PSHH recognizes our property teams who are exceeding expectations in management, maintenance, and resident satisfaction. The awardees for 2019 Quarter 4 are:
Platinum
Los Adobes de Maria III | Santa Maria
South Bay Apartments | Los Osos
Jardin de las Rosas | Santa Barbara
Sequoia Apartments | Morro Bay
Gold
Casas de los Carneros | Goleta
Casas de las Flores | Carpinteria
Lachen Tara Apartments | Avila Beach
Casas las Granadas | Santa Barbara
Silver
Ellwood Apartments | Goleta
Belridge Street Apartments | Oceano
Courtland Street Apartments | Arroyo Grande
Ladera Street Apartments | Santa Barbara
Brizzolara Apartments | San Luis Obispo
Victoria Street Bungalows | Santa Barbara
Chapel Court | Carpinteria
Storke Ranch Apartments | Goleta
Los Adobes de Maria I | Santa Maria
Pacific View Apartments | Morro Bay
Victoria Hotel | Santa Barbara
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Strategic Planning with New Board Members!
The PSHH Senior Staff and Board of Directors have started development on our newest strategic plan which will span from 2020 through 2023. We look forward to sharing this plan as it is finalized in the upcoming months!
In this time of strategic planning, we are thrilled to welcome two new directors onto the PSHH Board: Kevin Clerici, Executive Director of Downtown Ventura and Hazel Davalos, Community Organizing Director of CAUSE (Central Coast United for a Sustainable Economy).
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50 Years, 50 Acts of Kindness
In honor of PSHH’s 50th Anniversary, we are performing “50 Acts of Kindness” over the next year!
Last month, PSHH staff (pictured center) hit the streets for the 2020 Homeless Point in Time count in Ventura and Santa Barbara. The results of this important project informs future state and federal funding in support of homeless services.
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February Partnerships
We want to extend a big thank you to our newest sponsors for the upcoming Builder Games on May 9:
- JP Morgan Chase – $10,000
- Dan Troy and Morris & Garritano – $5,000
- Ashley & Vance Engineering Inc. – $2,500
- Community Economics Inc. – $2,500
- Morro Bay Cabinets – $1,000
- CalPortland Construction – $1,000
Visit our website to learn how your company can get involved in this exciting event! We also want to thank you to all our incredible partners who helped support our mission this month:
- Community Foundation San Luis Obispo – $11,800 for San Luis Obispo Census Projects
- Santa Barbara Foundation – $8,200 for Santa Barbara Census Projects
- McCune Foundation – $7,500 for Santa Barbara Resident Leadership
- Bill & Brenda Loar – $3,000 in general support
- First Republic Bank – $2,000 in general support
- Robert & Adele Stern Foundation – $2,000 in general support
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and many more from the ’50 Years. 50 Stories.’ collection!
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We’re Hiring –
Join the PSHH Team!
We are always searching for hardworking, passionate individuals – like Danita, our Construction Coordinator!
With current openings in multifamily housing development, property management, construction, finance, and education, check out our job postings, and join our growing team!
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50 Years of
Supportive Services
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Victoria Hotel
Celebrating 19 years
When the City of Santa Barbara approached PSHH to rehabilitate the historic Victoria Hotel, much of the city’s downtown district was still reeling from the effects of the 2008 recession.
In collaboration with the building’s longtime property manager, Mr. Lee – and with funding support from valued community partners and donors – PSHH introduced a range of onsite supportive services, from health screenings to counseling to education workshops. For its residents – primarily seniors, veterans, and former homeless – the Victoria Hotel provided not just a place to call home, but a caring network of support.
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50 Years of Strengthening Neighborhoods
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Citrus Pointe
Celebrating 17 years
Completed in 2003, this tract of 47 single-family homes in Piru, CA realized the dream of homeownership for low-income farmworkers, a workforce vital to the local economy of rural Ventura County.
As walls were raised, so were spirits as together, soon-to-be neighbors helped construct their new community – just in time to celebrate the holidays with their families!
Thanks to funding assistance from USDA Rural Development, Cal Fed AHP, CA HCD, County of Ventura HOME & CDBG, and SHOP, Citrus Pointe gave these hard-working families the greatest gift of all – lasting stability.
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SLO Co. must plan nearly 11,000 housing units over the next 10 years, more than half to be “affordable”
“Due to a new California housing requirement, over the next 9 years, San Luis Obispo County isn’t required to build, but they do have to plan for nearly 11,000 additional homes. The SLO Council of Governments took that number and divided it between each of the seven cities and unincorporated areas in SLO County.”
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Farmworker housing project changing hands
“Once the purchase is completed, his organization plans to move ahead with Somis Ranch Partners’ original proposal to the county to build 360 units of affordable housing on vacant, unincorporated land directly east of Rancho Campana High School.”
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San Luis Obispo backs funding for 100+ affordable apartments
“The city of San Luis Obispo moved forward this week with support for a plan for 108 affordable housing units for low-income residents. The city council approved $2 million dollars Tuesday to help fund the construction of that housing.”
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…and in other Housing News!
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Central Coast
Housing Authority celebrates grand opening of Johnson Court
“The Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara held an official grand opening celebration Friday afternoon for Johnson Court, a newly constructed complex of 16 studio apartments that are the city’s first to be dedicated to housing homeless veterans.”
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California
Gavin Newsom’s 5-point plan to address California homelessness explained
“California Gov. Gavin Newsom dedicated most of his Wednesday State of the State speech to the subject of homelessness, and detailing how his administration would respond to the growing crisis. In his speech, Newsom laid out a five-point framework that he would approach to the problem.”
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National
Will upzoning neighborhoods make homes more affordable?
“Housing affordability is a growing issue in America, and there’s a battle over how to fix it happening on blocks across the country. Zoning—the rules that govern how cities use their land—is on the front line.”
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San Luis Obispo
3533 Empleo Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
(805) 781-3088
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Ventura
56 E. Main Street #200
Ventura, CA 93001
(805) 695-5138
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Santa Barbara
26 E. Victoria Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
(805) 962-5152
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