October 30, 2017

Stories of Impact – San Diego Housing Commission’s Annual Report Highlights Programs in Rental Assistance, Homelessness and Affordable Housing

Multimedia report for Fiscal Year 2017 is published online, includes embedded video

SAN DIEGO, CA — A military Veteran couple with two small children who overcame homelessness and a 19-year-old rental assistance recipient working toward a career in law enforcement are among the many San Diegans impacted by San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) programs in Fiscal Year 2017 (July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2017).

Their stories and many more are featured in SDHC’s Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2017, which was published today on SDHC’s website, www.sdhc.org

“This annual report reflects the motto of the San Diego Housing Commission — We’re About People. Our programs make a difference in the lives of thousands of low-income and homeless San Diegans every day,” said SDHC President & CEO Richard C. Gentry.

The next phase of SDHC’s homelessness action plan, HOUSING FIRST – SAN DIEGO, was developed and approved in Fiscal Year 2017, including the new Homelessness Prevention and Diversion program. This program is now helping families like Jamie, a single mother, and her seven children ages 1 to 18, who were on the brink of eviction until they received help from SDHC to stay in their apartment.

“The Homelessness Prevention and Diversion program is crucial,” Jamie said. “There’s no doubt that it would have taken me, with six young children, years to recover from being homeless.”

Over the next three fiscal years, HOUSING FIRST – SAN DIEGO will create permanent housing opportunities for 3,000 homeless individuals and families.

Programs launched in the first three years of HOUSING FIRST – SAN DIEGO (2014-2017) are on track to impact the lives of an additional 3,000 homeless San Diegans.

These programs include the Housing Our Heroes initiative, which helped more than 1,000 homeless Veterans secure rental housing, including Tatiana and Andrew, both Veterans, and their two young daughters.

“We walked in, and it was a breath of fresh air, like being able to start over. And I think that’s a good feeling, like you have a clean slate and you can start from square one and work your way back up,” Andrew said.

In addition, SDHC provides federal rental assistance to 15,000 low-income households. The SDHC Achievement Academy, a resource center and computer lab, helps rental assistance families become more financially self-reliant. More than 1,300 families participated in SDHC Achievement Academy programs in Fiscal Year 2017.

“If it weren’t for the San Diego Housing Commission, God knows where we would be right now,” said 19-year- old Lesly, whose mother, Terry, received rental assistance for her family from SDHC. Lesly recently started working as a security guard after completing a program she heard about through the SDHC Achievement Academy, and her goal is to become a law-enforcement officer.

Including its nonprofit affiliate, SDHC also owns and/or manages more than 3,500 affordable rental housing units for low-income San Diegans. In Fiscal Year 2017, SDHC invested $13.4 million in renovations at 85 SDHC-owned properties with more than 800 units.

“It was almost like I wanted to pinch myself and think, ‘Is this the same complex I left yesterday?’ It was that stunningly different,” Mary, an SDHC tenant, said of the renovations at the apartment complex where she lives.

As a partner, developer and lender, SDHC also creates and preserves affordable rental housing units for low-income and homeless San Diegans.

The total development costs for SDHC partnership developments that were completed, under construction, or approved for funding or bond authorizations in Fiscal Year 2017 (July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2017) represented an investment of more than $1 billion toward more than 2,500 affordable rental housing units.

Construction was completed in Fiscal Year 2017 on 689 of these affordable rental housing units at SDHC partnership developments.

SDHC’s Annual Report was produced in-house by the award-winning SDHC Communications & Government Relations Division.

For more information about SDHC, visit www.sdhc.org.

###

Media Contact:
Scott Marshall
Vice President of Communications
San Diego Housing Commission
(619) 578-7138
scottm@sdhc.org