Affirmed Housing Opens "The LINK," A New Permanent Home for San Diegans Experiencing Homelessness
Supportive Housing Initiates Neighborhood Renewal While Serving its Vulnerable Residents
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 20, 2020, Affirmed Housing and its development partners hosted a virtual Grand Opening celebration for The LINK, a permanent supportive housing community. Located at 707 17th Street in downtown San Diego, The LINK is the result of an extraordinary collaboration of various public and private entities. As one of numerous supportive developments by Affirmed Housing, The LINK is designed to help spur neighborhood revitalization while addressing the region's affordable housing shortage.
Located on an 11,318-square-foot site, The LINK provides 72 permanent supportive housing apartments to people who have experienced homelessness, and 14 affordable studios for households earning 50 percent or less of the area median income (86 total resident apartments). Each apartment is approximately 300-400 square feet, with a living space, kitchen, and bath. The seven-story, 50,000-square-foot project features a glass-encased lobby, a community room, and laundry facilities. Built by HA Builders and designed by Carrier Johnson + CULTURE, the project features a dramatically sharp angle, creating a striking presence at a major downtown intersection. Bringing exceptional design and economic opportunities to a site formerly occupied by an abandoned warehouse, The LINK will be a great addition to this East Village neighborhood.
Todd Gloria, California State Assembly member, states, "Affordable housing can have a tremendously positive impact on neighborhoods, on communities, on cities, and on our region. What I see time and again are projects of incredible quality—often the nicest building in the neighborhood—projects that actually change lives."
The LINK follows the nationally-recognized Housing First model for ending homelessness. Affirmed Housing President & CEO, James Silverwood, explains, "The Housing First model has proven to be the best way to get folks off the street and keep them housed. The concept is that they need housing first in order to get their lives back together, in order for them to have job training, educational skills, kick dependency on drugs or alcohol, etc."
Nathan Fletcher, San Diego County Supervisor, states, "We're a country that 50 years ago put a man on the moon and brought him back. We have the ingenuity, we have the ability, we just need to have the will to make it a priority."
Helping to meet the needs of residents at The LINK is on-site service provider People Assisting The Homeless (PATH). Four PATH case managers will be based out of The LINK to provide services that focus on physical health, mental health, budgeting, and respond to the unique needs and challenges of the residents. The LINK is the result of a collaboration between entities and funders at the city, county, state, and federal levels. Key partners include the San Diego Housing Commission, Civic San Diego, and Bank of America.
City of San Diego Councilmember Chris Ward states, "We have almost 80 individuals who formerly were housing challenged—didn't know where they were going to sleep tomorrow night, didn't know what their future had in store—[now] they have peace of mind, they have stability, they have a home."
Affirmed Housing
Headquartered in San Diego, Affirmed Housing is dedicated to improving and sustaining the viability of California through the development of affordable housing. The company aims at enhancing communities and our environment by building dynamic, professionally-managed, high-quality, sustainable multifamily housing. The company has financed over $1.85 billion in affordable development, with 4,700 units developed or under development in 61 communities. For more information, visit www.affirmedhousing.com.
Contact: Beth Binger
BCIpr
(619) 987-6658
[email protected]
SOURCE Affirmed Housing
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