• Celebrate Our Housing Champion!
• Mills Ranch Inclusive Housing Receives $1 Million DDS Award
• Milpitas City Council Approves The Mil on Main Inclusive Housing
• Housing Choices Urges Board of Supervisors’ Continued Support for Inclusive Housing Financing
• Get Informed! Join Housing Choices at these Affordable Housing Month Events
• Apply by May 9 for Firehouse Square and Light Tree Apartments

Join Santa Clara County housing leaders on May 12 from 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm when SV@Home recognizes Housing Choices’ Executive Director Jan Stokley as the Santa Clara County Housing Champion. In announcing Jan’s selection, Regina Celestin Williams, CEO of SV@Home stated that Jan “has advanced housing opportunities for people with developmental disabilities county-wide and changed the conversation around how we talk about, and prioritize, inclusive housing options for people of all abilities.” Jan will receive the award at SV@Home’s Signature Event. More information is available on this Eventbrite page.

California’s Department of Developmental Services recently selected Mills Ranch Inclusive Housing, a Housing Choices’ Partner Property, to receive a $1 million loan for development costs. Located in King City, near the southern border of Monterey County, the development will provide housing in a largely rural area where there are few opportunities for people with developmental disabilities to transition to their own affordable home. Developed by CHISPA, an experienced Monterey County housing developer, Mills Ranch will consist of 40 apartments in five scattered site buildings located in a larger single-family home subdivision. Eight of the forty affordable homes will be subject to a preference for people with developmental disabilities who receive coordinated services from San Andreas Regional Center and Housing Choices. “We are excited to have our first multi-family inclusive housing project in Monterey County and our first partnership with CHISPA,” stated Executive Director Jan Stokley. “Because Mills Ranch will also house farmworker families, who make up a growing number of Regional Center families served in southern Monterey County, there is tremendous synergy with San Andreas Regional Center’s goal of increasing access to services in the fastest growing county in its service area.” 

On May 3, the Core Companies secured the go-ahead from the Milpitas City Council for the Mil on Main affordable housing development, which will create 220 affordable housing units with 20 apartments subject to a preference for people with developmental disabilities who receive coordinated services from San Andreas Regional Center and Housing Choices. Located at 1388 South Main Street in Milpitas, the property is directly across the street from the VTA Great Mall Light Rail Station, near the BART station and the Great Mall, and convenient to shopping and services. In applauding the City Council’s unanimous vote, Executive Director Jan Stokley noted that “This is an important FIRST inclusive housing project for the residents of Milpitas with developmental disabilities, who have had to leave their home community in order to pursue their dream of living in their own affordable home.” 

On April 19, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors provided a commendation to Housing Choices’ departing Executive Director, Jan Stokley, acknowledging the impact of her ten years at the helm of Housing Choices on opportunities for Santa Clara County residents with developmental disabilities to live in inclusive and affordable housing in their home communities. In accepting the award, Jan thanked the Board of Supervisors for becoming the first county in California to embrace the goal of including people with developmental disabilities in typical affordable housing by creating a dedicated local housing finance program. “These funds will be exhausted in June 2023, and it is critical that Santa Clara County maintain this financing priority in the years ahead,” she stated in accepting the commendation. 

May 17th 5-6 PM Affordable Housing for the Next Generation 
At Housing Leadership Council’s Affordable Housing for the Next Generation event, Craig Castellanet of the Public Interest Law Project, Nevada Merriman of MidPen Housing, and Kalisha Webster of Housing Choices will discuss the history of housing law in California and identify ways cities can best plan for affordable housing options in the future, including housing for people with developmental disabilities. Register here.

May 19th 5-6 PM Tackling the Challenge of Producing Deeply Affordable Housing. Every year the Area Median Income in our high cost counties increases, and with each increase, more people with developmental disabilities are prevented from meeting minimum income requirements for even the most affordable rental units. Join Housing Choices as we convene a panel of affordable housing finance leaders to discuss strategies for increasing the production of Extremely Low Income housing so that more people with developmental disabilities can qualify to live in affordable housing. Register here.

The San Mateo County Housing Authority has extended until May 9 the date for applying online for a lottery for two Housing Choices inclusive housing properties--Firehouse Square in Belmont and Light Tree Apartments in East Palo Alto. Both properties include apartments subject to a preference for people who will benefit from the specialized onsite services Housing Choices will provide. The properties are particularly important because the units have Project-Based Vouchers, and thus will be affordable to people whose income is limited to SSI. Apply online at https://www.mysmchousing.com/. Select applicant login to create an account to be able to apply for Firehouse and Light Tree and in your application indicate whether you will need the coordinated onsite services provided by Housing Choices. 

We hope you will support inclusive, affordable housing for people with developmental disabilities, now and in the years to come.