Community HousingWorks Opens its Home

To demonstrate how Community HousingWorks impacts Poway, Maria welcomed a group of strangers into her one-bedroom apartment home at the Solara complex on Wednesday evening.

The nonprofit organization, which develops affordable housing projects in communities throughout San Diego County, held the open house to inform the public about its programs and services. Community HousingWorks constructed the 56-unit complex with redevelopments funds from the City of Poway—funds Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed to eliminate.

Maria, who has lived in her apartment for nearly three years, said she was on the lengthy waiting list for about the same amount of time. She moved from Kentucky to Poway to help care for her elderly mother who lives nearby. She needed a home that wasn’t too costly, she said.

Community HousingWorks President and CEO Sue Reynolds, said the nonprofit helped 15,000 people last year with its various programs. Despite the threat to redevelopment funds, Reynolds wants to help even more people this year.

“We believe that with the community’s help, we can find a way,” she said. “If folks in in the community think affordable housing is horrible, raggedy high-rises in middle of downtown Chicago, and they haven’t seen Solara … they’re going to be scared. We need more folks who know what this housing can do for the community and how it can be a ppositive aspect.”

Councilman Dave Grosch was among the roughly 30 attendees at the open house. He admitted he was a “little bit critical of the redevelopment funds” when he was running for Poway City Council.

“This is not like housing that you think of in Chicago or Detroit,” he said. “These are houses that people can be proud of.”

One of the residents in the crowd, also named Maria, agreed. She used to live in Chicago.

“I was blessed to be able to move here, very blessed,” said Maria, a single mother.

“I’m living off of what I can … I don’t want to be doing this forever. Solara has helped me get my feet back on the ground.”

When her young daughter is in school full-time, she said she plans to go to college to help at-risk youth—something that living at Solara inspired her to do.

The nonprofit offers activities and programs for its young residents. Two Solara residents and Poway High School students talked about using the building’s community room and learning center to do homework and help tutor other students.

In addition, Community HousingWorks offers programs and training to help educate residents about money management and credit, as well as the HomeOwnership Center to help residents and other first-time homebuyers interested in purchasing their first home.

“I feel very privileged to work for an organization that gets to make real community change, and that’s what this place is,” said Learning Communities Director Heather Laird. “I’m unbelievably proud to work with Community HousingWorks.”

Solara is one of six affordable housing projects developed by Community HousingWorks in Poway. The nonprofit has 29 complexes in the county.

Solara was completed in March 2007. The majority of families that live in Solara’s one, two and three-bedroom units earn less than $35,000 a year. The rent range is approximately $500-$1,000 per month.

In addition to its community and computer center, playground, laundry facility, public art walk, lemon orchard and shopping carts, the complex is sustainable. It is the first apartment complex to be fully powered by the sun in California.

A large portion of the land the complex was built on “was in the process of becoming an ugly, conventional apartment building,” Reynolds said, when Community HousingWorks approached the city.

“We don’t give anything to people, we just give people a chance to do something for themselves,” Reynolds said. “That is part of the match between us and Poway. The City of Poway has quite the similar notion about how housing can make a difference here.”