Peoples’ Self-Help Housing Cuts Ribbon on 43 Affordable Apartments in Carpinteria
Carpinteria, – October 21, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Peoples’ Self-Help Housing cut the ribbon on its 45th affordable project, Casas de las Flores, on Thursday Oct. 15 during a ceremony celebrating completion of the long-awaited, 43-unit complex at 4096 Via Real.
Over 130 supporters, staff members and residents attended the grand opening of Casas de las Flores, which was built on the former site of the Carpinteria Camper Park. PSHH purchased the extremely blighted camper park from an absentee landlord 12 years ago and successfully absorbed 80 households, who lived there in very poor conditions, into PSHH properties and other housing elsewhere.
After years of preparation, PSHH broke ground on the project in April 2014.
Speakers at the grand opening included a resident who lived at the Carpinteria Camper Park for over 20 years and now living happily at nearby PSHH housing. A resident family also shared about how much PSHH’s after school youth education program has helped their two daughters succeed in school and finish their homework every day. Father Richard Martini from St. Joseph’s Church performed a blessing during Thursday’s ceremony.
PSHH held a lottery drawing earlier this year as part of its resident selection process for the all-new development. There were more applications for the housing than apartments available. In addition to 43 beautiful apartments, Casas de las Flores includes a Community Building which includes the Ridley-Tree Community Kitchen, community room, offices, clinic space, and youth education and computer room. The grounds also has a tot lot playground, half basketball court, walking paths and new laundry facilities.
Major donors pulled together to collectively contribute $400,000 to the project, including Weingart Foundation, Santa Barbara Foundation, Looker Foundation, Outhwaite Foundation, Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree, Michael and Jennifer Payne, All Saints-by-the-Seas Episcopal Church, El Montecito Presbyterian Church, Montecito Covenant Church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Allan and Carol Koch, Robert Fowler Landscape Architect. and Ted and Julie Chandler. Many others contributed by “adopting” the doors to these beautiful new homes, including Union Bank, Montecito Bank & Trust, Michael & Jennifer Payne and many others.
For more, visit http://www.pshhc.org/
About PSHH
Founded in 1970, PSHH is an award winning non-profit organization that develops affordable housing and community facilities for low-income households and homeownership opportunities for working families and special needs populations, such as seniors, veterans, the disabled, and the formerly homeless. With nearly 1,200 self-help homes completed and almost 1,600 rental units developed, PSHH is the largest affordable housing developer on the Central Coast, with offices in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. For more information on Peoples’ Self-Help Housing, visit www.pshhc.org, email 
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