Project Access NewsletterVol.1 No.1 - May 2, 2001About Project Access For most low-income families, finding affordable housing is only one step on the road to survival. Children from disadvantaged neighborhoods may desperately need after-school tutoring and social guidance to succeed, and for adults the struggle to achieve self-sufficiency often means trying to find English language and literacy instruction, job-skills and computer training, health education, and low-cost medical insurance. Their efforts to meet these needs may be hindered by the cost, by language, or by a lack of transportation or childcare. Project Access helps to overcome these barriers by creating partnerships between low-income housing providers and community-service organizations to establish on-site learning centers, and by working with schools, health care organizations, and a variety of public and private agencies to facilitate the delivery of outreach services directly into the low-income developments. These successful collaborations benefit both the affordable housing owners and the residents, and clearly demonstrate that when people are given access to the tools with which they can achieve family health and self-sufficiency, a more stable neighborhood is created, where the residents take pride in their community and work to make it a better place to live. Empowerment Zone Grants Benefit Warwick Square On April 25, 2001, the Santa Ana Empowerment Zone approved funding for two proposals that will directly benefit the residents of the Warwick Square Apartments. Each involves a collaboration, arranged by Project Access, between the owners of this 500-unit affordable housing development and local community service agencies. The first grant, which inaugurates a partnership with the nonprofit Latino Health Access, will expand the capacity of Warwick Square’s on-site learning and resource center to outreach to the residents by underwriting the employment of a Promotore / volunteer coordinator -- who will go door-to-door to encourage resident participation in the education, health and vocational services offered at the center, and who will recruit parents, older students, and community members into the center’s mentoring and tutoring programs. The proposal will also provide stipends to nine resident “quad leaders”, and will triple the funding of the youth scholarship program. The second grant, in collaboration with the nonprofit Maternal Outreach Management System (M.O.M.S.), will address a vital need for maternal programs and services at Warwick Square. Demographic information obtained by property management indicates that, among the 500 resident families, up to 50 women are pregnant at any given time. Through this partnership, M.O.M.S. will offer them a comprehensive program that includes on-site classes in prenatal education, nutrition, breastfeeding, childbirth preparation, and parenting; access to early and consistent prenatal care; on-site infant development education and assessments; maternal and infant case management for high risk pregnant women and their infants; outreach for teen pregnancy prevention; and a prenatal loan program. In addition, two health fairs will be held at Warwick Square, at which all residents will be offered a range of free health screenings. The Palms Learning Center Progresses Working closely with the local Healthy Start Collaborative, Project Access has arranged for the creation of a learning and resource center for the 338 low-income families living at The Palms Apartments in Rowland Heights, California. The forty-member group submitted a successful Healthy Start grant application to the State Department of Education that included funding for a community liaison specifically to outreach to The Palms, and to coordinate the wide range of programs and services that will be brought to the site - including after-school homework assistance, ESL and literacy classes, and medical outreach. Project Access also obtained a grant from The California Wellness Foundation to help underwrite the medical component of the programming. The property has recently achieved tax-abatement certification, freeing up impounded funds that will be used to transform space previously used for storage into a community learning and resource center. Meanwhile, liaisons from the Healthy Start Collaborative, in partnership with student nurses from USC, have conducted door-to-door outreach to survey and address resident health needs. Three Learning Centers Established In Orange County Project Access has recently assisted in the establishment of on-site learning and resource centers in three housing developments in Orange County, California. A large, well-furnished community center is now open at the Nova Bayport Apartments in Garden Grove, California. Under the guidance of director Alyne Speed, who has joined the local F.O.C.U.S. Collaborative of community service providers, the center offers a range of activities, including storytime, after-school tutoring and homework assistance, an adolescent empowerment program, and workshops in health and nutrition.
Furnished with computers, study areas, and an abundance of books, the learning center at the Tara Village Apartments, in Cypress, California, has begun an ambitious outreach to the development’s 170 low-income families. By seeking resident volunteers to help with the popular after-school program, the ESL and computer-skills classes, the regular distribution of surplus food, and various social events, director Karen Carbajal is encouraging the sense of ownership and participation among the residents that will ensure the continued success of the center. At the Malabar Apartments, in Garden Grove, California, an unused room next to the pool has been transformed into an activity center where the resident children are given positive after-school alternatives, and where property manager Stacy Vezina and a part-time director present educational and medical outreach programming for the adults. Project Access is working with KDF Holdings, a partner in the ownership of Malabar, and with Village Property Management to arrange for the provision of resident services at several other low-income housing sites in Orange County. Board Development Underway Project Access has undertaken an ambitious development program to expand the initial three-person Board of Directors to a total of up to fifteen persons, and to create an Advisory Board. Guided by outside consultants, the recruitment effort seeks highly-qualified candidates who are dedicated to serving the low-income community. Representatives of many fields - including education, medicine, geriatrics, government, law enforcement, technology, vocational training, and community development -- are being sought, and it is expected that the expanded Board will bring a diversity of experience and viewpoints to the work of fulfilling the mission of Project Access. How You Can Help The overhead and administrative expenses of Project Access are presently underwritten by Foundation for Social Resources. As a result, 100% of all contributions and in-kind donations are directly applied to the programs and services that are provided to low-income families. To make a contribution, or for more information, please contact: Project Access, Inc. |