Fall 2007

Dan Sawislak, shown here engaged in a foosball match with a resident of Lakeside Apartments, recently returned from an intensive week in Cambridge, MA, where he participated in the Neighborworks Achieving Excellence in Community Development program at Harvard University. Achieving Excellence is an 18 month program focusing on performance driven change in community development corporations throughout the country. Dan’s participation has led to positive change throughout RCD, particularly in the development of our 2007–10 strategic plan, increasing our fund development and marketing capacity, and in numerous improvements to systems and practices within the organization.

Resident Services News

We recently celebrated the opening of the computer lab at Lakeside Apartments, with volunteer Bill Miller there to show residents the software programs and how to access the internet. Bill and other volunteers are on hand weekly to offer assistance and training. Other programs include Friday morning English as a Second Language classes and Tuesday afternoon after school homework support and activities. We also have a children’s library of 1000 books. If you’d like to donate books or volunteer, please contact Paola Laird, our resident service coordinator, at (510) 841-4410 ext. 34.

Sehline Rodriguez Ivanhoe, a LISC Americorps Member, came aboard this summer to work in our programs for youth. On Saturday afternoons at Bella Monte in Pittsburg Bay Point she brings opportunities for dance, music, arts and crafts, writing workshops, and life skills activities, all presented as a positive way to express and explore thoughts and feelings.  Sehline has recruited two wonderful volunteers – Ada, a painter, and Justin, a dancer – who bring a lot of artistic talent to the program. Sehline works to develop close relationships with the youth, providing mentorship in the areas of social skills and communication. She identifies the natural and potential leaders and works to build trust and coach them in conflict resolution and using positive communication to lead. 

The residents at Bella Monte also recently came together to form their own Neighborhood Watch group. Heather Burdick from the Sheriff’s Department stopped by one evening and provided training on how the residents could set up their Neighborhood Watch group. Heather is working to get signage posted to let the community know that Bella Monte is participating in the program. The residents have agreed to meet every other month to discuss changes and progress in community safety and security. 

Director of Resident Services Chris Hess was a speaker at the statewide annual conference of the Non-Profit Housing Association Northern California in San Francisco on October 15. The panel discussion was entitled "Designing and Sustaining Resident Services in Tax Credit Housing." Chris spoke about RCD's success in developing partnerships with mental health and HIV/AIDS service providers, building vibrant youth and computer training programs, and developing relationships with donors to support these programs. Nonprofit developers, local government representatives, funders, and legal and accounting experts in affordable housing contributed a range of experience to the discussion.

We are pleased to announce a recent grant of $7,500 from The Wachovia Foundation to support our Resident Services Program. We also depend on donors like you for contributions to maintain our excellent onsite programming. We’ll be in touch soon with information about our new Community Builders Circle for major donors. Meantime, please consider an easy-to-make online donation of any amount so all our residents will have options for personal growth and community development.

Housing Development News

We are leasing up Villa Vasconcellos as construction moves closer to completion next January.  The seventy single bedroom units for seniors feature lots of windows for natural light and some breathtaking views of Mt. Diablo and its environs.  Seniors will find Villa Vasconcellos to be environmentally friendly with low or no off-gassing products in the cabinetry and countertops or in any of the paints and adhesives.  The appliances are all energy efficient and the building has been designed to exceed energy efficiency requirements by over 15 percent.  In addition, panels installed on the roof will allow the development to produce its own electricity for use in the common areas from solar photovoltaic panels and hot water panels that preheat water for the central boiler.

Interest in the apartments is high, especially among special needs folks in central Contra Costa County.  Onsite services will be coordinated by a full-time staff person who will be available to help the new residents make the transition to their home at Villa Vasconcellos, ensuring that they can access services they need locally.  Once people have settled in, onsite services will include health screenings, exercise classes, nutrition awareness, and other activities as requested by the residents.      

The construction of Villa Vasconcellos in Walnut Creek moves closer to completion next January.

Many thanks to everyone who turned out to officially break ground at Fox Courts in Oakland’s Uptown District and especially to the Drum Corps from the Oakland School for the Arts, whose talented students performed on African drums.  Fox Courts is the result of advocacy efforts by many in the community who worked to ensure this inclusionary housing that City of Oakland Housing Development Manager Marge Gladman lauded as “an exciting place to live and work…in a beautiful building that includes a mix of incomes and a mix of units in a community oriented development.”  In addition to 80 units of affordable housing, Fox Courts will add to the burgeoning arts district around the Fox Theatre, with space for programs from the Museum of Children’s Art and a public mural.  City Councilmember Nancy Nadel spoke about the importance of her own exposure to arts education as a youth and how wonderful the arts exposure will be for Oakland residents.  If you missed the groundbreaking, stop by the site on 18th Street between Telegraph and San Pablo to see how Fox Courts and neighboring developments are creating a vibrant new community.

Shown left to right:  Tim Fitzmaurice (JH Fitzmaurice, Inc.); Councilmember Nancy Nadel (District 3); Elissa Dennis (Community Economics); Sylvia and Dan Sawislak (RCD); Marge Gladman (City of Oakland CEDA); Fiona Hsu (Union Bank); Councilmember Jean Quan (District 4); Lisa Motoyama (RCD)

Both Fox Courts and Oxford Plaza received grant funding from Alameda County’s Build It Green and the Enterprise Green Communities programs to assist RCD to make the developments sustainable and “green”.  RCD has made an organizational commitment to incorporate green features in all developments to create healthy communities for our residents and for all of us.  RCD is able to integrate environmentally friendly features into our affordable housing because of grants from organizations that support the additional construction costs.  Often these materials and systems have a higher up front cost that is recouped over time in operations.  We are very grateful for additional recent grants for green building from Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Home Depot Foundation. 

The City of Fairfield was awarded the 2007 League of California Cities Helen Putnam Award recently for Laurel Gardens Apartments.  Laurel Gardens was designed to serve the residential and service related needs of adults with mental disabilities and provides 30 units from studios to one and two bedroom apartments.  Fairfield was recognized in the Housing Programs and Innovations category.