A Focus on Resident Services

A critical component of HUD's national housing program is the emphasis on building safe, healthy, and livable communities. However, HUD's initiatives are on a broader national scale with an emphasis on social targets, including reducing crime, housing police officers in the communities they serve, improving regional transportation, and rehabilitating area schools. Obviously, HUD's focus is far beyond the capacity of a nonprofit. Local initiatives must be undertaken by the owners and operators of affordable housing units, which might include after-school programs, day camps or summer camps, enhanced training or job counseling, debt counseling or financial planning, and health and nutrition programs. This is a commitment that AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR CALIFORNIA COMMUNITIES, INC. intends to undertake and promote in cooperation with local government agencies.

It is difficult to be specific about social programs, since the appropriateness of any program depends in large part on the needs and desires of the tenant community. Some communities with an increased percentage of immigrants may want or require programs emphasizing education, while another community in a distressed area might seek programs emphasizing job skills training or counseling. Whatever the needs specific to the community and its residents, AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR CALIFORNIA COMMUNITIES, INC. will endeavor to address them within the constraints of prudent management.