Los Angeles Announces Winners of the 2011 CSH California Supportive Housing Quality Awards

Nov. 29, 2011 - PRLog -- LOS ANGELES - Eight remarkable individuals and organizations, who have pushed the supportive housing sector forward in California were honored for their work at the 2011 CSH California Supportive Housing Quality Awards event in Downtown Los Angeles.  The CSH California Supportive Housing Quality Awards is an annual event dedicated to promoting excellence in supportive housing development and operations. Supportive housing industry and government leaders, practitioners, and community advocates gathered for a Dinner and Ceremony on Thursday, November 10th to honor the achievements of supportive housing professionals and supporters.

Highlights from the program ceremony can be found here: http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=d477f3e2e075003c9d2f335a3&id=51229b5eb6

Photos from the event can be found here: http://cshqualityawards.shutterfly.com/:

"CSH is proud to honor those who have demonstrated extraordinary compassion, dedication and commitment to furthering the supportive housing movement," said CSH Managing Director, Jonathan Hunter. "The Awards celebrates the important role that supportive housing plays in the lives of our community’s most vulnerable people."

Following a California-wide call to the public for nominations, a jury panel of key housing leaders reviewed entries and selected nominations in the following 3 categories.

1.   Quality in Design
Projects in this category were reviewed for excellence in exterior and interior design.

2.    Quality in Operations and Management & Service Delivery
Projects in this category were reviewed for excellence in operations and management and supportive services.
a.   Operations and Management
Activities support the mission and goals of the housing and foster tenants’ housing stability and independence, and appropriate asset management strategies which sustain the physical and financial viability of the housing asset; and

b.   Services
The design and delivery of supportive services facilitate access to a comprehensive array of services, are tenant-focused, effectively address tenants’ needs, and foster tenants’ housing stability and independence.

3.     Experiential Discovery
Every project is a new experience and each project has its “a-ha moment” when something new is learned. It may be in the pre-development phase with community outreach; in the design or construction stages; in the leasing and occupancy phase. For this award, applicants will indicate what was the “a-ha moment” and what was learned that will carry over to their work on future projects?

The above mentioned awards were judged by a jury of individuals who reviewed and rated project nominations.

The 2011 CSH California Supportive Housing Quality Award winners are as follows:

Quality in Design

Downtown Women’s Center Residence            
Location: Los Angeles
Project Developer: Downtown Women’s Center
Architect: Pica + Sullivan Architects
Property Manager: Downtown Women’s Center
Service Provider: Downtown Women’s Center
Total Number of Units: 71
Total Number of Permanent Supportive Housing Units: 71

The Downtown Women’s Center Residence, located in Los Angeles’s Skid Row, provides studio apartments for 71 women who once lived on the street.  Community-minded features of the project make it truly unique, such as its reading and lending library, community kitchen, exercise room, and health clinic. Jurors unanimously noted the attention to detail, welcoming, and home-like environment its design. The opening of this project means low-income women in Los Angeles have access to housing and services in a safe and healthy community which values dignity, respect, and personal stability for every resident.


Quality in Operations and Management & Service Delivery

Scattered Site Award:
Housing Works Mobile Integrated Service Team (MIST)
Location: Los Angeles (throughout Los Angeles County)
Total Number of Units: Housing Works MIST currently provides services on-site at 84 scattered site permanent supportive housing units.

Housing Works MIST works with tenants who are at risk of losing their housing –including tenants in permanent supportive housing developments and tenants in scattered-site landlord-owned units. Housing Works MIST does "whatever it takes, for as long as it takes" to help chronically homeless households thrive. They have a remarkable success rate working with extremely vulnerable individuals and families, due to their intensive commitment, skilled interventions, and respect for the tenants they serve.


Urban Award:
Zygmunt Arendt House
Location: San Francisco
Project Developer: Community Housing Partnership and Tenderloin
Neighborhood Development Corporation
Property Manager: Community Housing Partnership
Service Provider: Community Housing Partnership
Total Number of Units: 47
Total Number of Permanent Supportive Housing Units: 47

Zygmunt Arendt House provides housing and supportive services to seniors who have experienced chronic homelessness. Community Housing Partnership (CHP) has a deep commitment to the tenets of permanent supportive housing, with more than half of their staff being formerly homeless. One of CHP's strengths is their close coordination of property management and support services, while providing easy access to housing and services, and respecting tenant's life experiences and tenant's decision making.

Non Urban Award:
Garden Park Apartment Community
Location: Pleasant Hill
Project Developer: Contra Costa Interfaith Housing & Mercy Housing California
Property Manager: Mercy Housing
Service Provider: Contra Costa Interfaith Housing (CCIH)
Total Number of Units: 28
Total Number of Permanent Supportive Housing Units: 27

In operation since 2004, the Garden Park Apartments Community provides intensive services to tenants, 100% formerly homeless families, with a special emphasis on services for children.  On-site services are staffed by licensed mental health clinicians, a Masters educated Academic Specialist, and large numbers of community volunteers. Garden Park Apartments have demonstrated that they are successfully interrupting intergenerational cycles of poverty and homelessness.


Quality in Experiential Discovery

Prioritization Project
Location: Los Angeles
Project Developer: Skid Row Housing Trust

Skid Row Housing Trust's experiential discovery helped them discover how to truly house the most vulnerable individuals in their projects. Based on their work with Project 50 and other initiatives, the Trust became aware that their standard tenant selection procedures were a barrier to the potential tenants with the most challenges. There was also recognition that service delivery to tenants must be reorganized to become more effective at helping tenants succeed in housing.


CSH Champions Awards

The CSH Champions Awards recognize individuals and organizations that have demonstrated extraordinary leadership in advancing supportive housing creation in California. One award was given from each of the following categories:

1.)   Public entity
2.)   Government entity
3.)   Private organization

The Champion of Change awards are non-juried and were selected by CSH management staff.

The 2011 CSH California Supportive Housing Champion Award winners are:

•   Darrell Steinberg, President pro Tempore, California State Senate
•   Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC) - San Diego, CA
•   Elise Buik, President & CEO, United Way of Greater Los Angeles

About Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH)
For 20 years, CSH has been a catalyst for housing connected with services to prevent and end homelessness. CSH develops innovative program models, provides research-backed tools and training, offers development expertise, makes loans and grants, and collaborates on public policy and systems reform to make it easier to create and operate high-quality supportive housing. CSH is on track to meet its goal of helping communities create 150,000 units of supportive housing nationwide by 2012.