The Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz is pleased to announce that we have adopted a new agency logo! The new logo is presented below. You will start seeing the new logo design integrated into our website, business cards, and forms over the coming weeks and months.
The Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz has opened a new site based waiting list for Project Based Voucher (PBV) rental assistance at Resetar Residential Apartments in downtown Watsonville.
The Resetar Residential Hotel is an 89 unit supportive and affordable housing project in the heart of downtown Watsonville. There are a total of 52 Project Based units at Resetar, of which 5 units are set aside for formerly homeless veterans participating in the HUD-VASH program. There are 3 one-bedroom units and 49 studio apartment in the Project Based Voucher Program. Residents of Resetar Residential Hotel establish a service plan and receive case-management provided by Abode Services or other service providers.
In most ways, the PBV program operates just like the regular Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program, with households paying roughly one third of their income towards housing, and the Housing Authority paying the remainder of the rent directly to the landlord on the tenant’s behalf. However, there are some key differences between the programs. For example, in the PBV program, assistance is tied to the unit, not the household. Therefore, you must reside in Resetar Residential Hotel for at least one year before potentially being eligible to transfer your assistance to another unit.
To be added to the Resetar waiting list, interested persons must submit a Pre-Application form to the Housing Authority. Pre-Application forms can be obtained on our website or from our lobby during office hours Monday-Thursday, or by calling (831) 454-5950. More information about the Project Based Voucher program can be found here.
The Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz provides equal opportunity to all applicants for participation in the Housing Authority’s Programs, and is an equal opportunity employer. The Housing Authority does not discriminate based on race, ancestry, color, religion, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, age, citizenship, handicap or familial status.
If you have any questions, please contact our Waiting List Information Line at 831-454-5950.
The Housing Authority recently participated in the annual Santa Cruz Connect (formerly called Project Homeless Connect) at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in downtown Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz Connect focuses on bringing a large number of services and resources together in the same place at the same time. Hundreds of individuals, corporations, nonprofits, and government agencies provide Santa Cruz Connect and its clients with services such as dental care, eyeglasses, family support, food, HIV testing, housing resources, hygiene products, medical care, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, SSI benefits, legal advice, California identification cards, voice mail, employment counseling, job placement, wheelchair repair, veterinary services, and more.
The Housing Authority staffed a booth at the event, providing attendees with real time information on waiting list placement and status, as well as processing requests for waiting list reinstatement and answering general questions.
For more information about Santa Cruz Connect, please see the story in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/social-affairs/20160524/from-pet-care-to-legal-help-santa-cruz-homeless-get-connected
The Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz has committed 39 project based vouchers towards the development of a new affordable housing complex called St. Stephens Senior Housing, which is being constructed on Soquel Avenue in Santa Cruz. These vouchers were used to leverage additional funding to support the development, including funding from the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee.
Once constructed, St. Stephens Senior Housing will house 39 low-income seniors, with several units set aside for homeless veterans, and for frail elderly. For more information, please see the following article from the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
To get on the interest list please visit the MidPen’s website at http://www.midpen-housing.org/.
While I am new to the position of ED, I have worked with the Housing Authority for 12 years as Principal Administrative Analyst and more recently as Acting Deputy Executive Director. In this capacity, I have been involved with every program run by our Agency, including our large federal programs such as the Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program and the Low Income Public Housing program, our state and local programs, and I have been involved in the development and implementation of many of our special programs for vulnerable populations, such as our Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers for homeless veterans, and our waiting list preference for disabled and medically vulnerable homeless persons.
I believe deeply in the Housing Authority’s mission of promoting access to quality affordable housing, and I have seen the impact that housing stability has on the thousands of low income households served by this Agency. The Housing Authority, and the programs we administer, are a tremendous public asset, providing housing to thousands of individuals and families. Likewise, the individuals and families served by our programs form the bedrock of our community, and include day care providers, paramedics, retail and service workers, and countless other members of our workforce and our rental housing market, that keep our community vibrant.
In my role as ED, it will be my pleasure to work with our families, our staff, and our community to pursue access to quality affordable housing for low income families.
