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April Newsletter - In This Issue
 
Self-Help Enterprises is proud to partner with Proteus to provide labor through their job training program for five recent solar PV installation projects at Self-Help Enterprises' rental communities. Funded by the Low-Income Weatherization Program, these projects are providing on-site installation training and will ultimately result in clean energy and reduced electrical bills for the residents. According to the contractor, Sunrise Energy, the job training participants are "motivated, hard-working and most of all eager to learn."
JOIN OUR TEAM
Self-Help Enterprises offers an exciting work environment where you can bring your high caliber skills to a true career opportunity and impact the world around you.

We have an opening for a Construction Superintendent
responsible for t he training and supervision of mutual self-help housing participants in the construction of their new homes.
REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY
Self-Help Enterprises' Real Estate Development department is committed to building affordable housing for low-income workingfamilies and people with special needs. The team's expertise covers many aspects of real estate development including project financing, community outreach and planning, construction management, and asset management. This expertise and commitment have contributed to funding opportunities for several upcoming development projects.
 
Sierra Village: Self-Help Enterprises is preparing to close funding to construct the 44-unit Sierra Village apartment rental community in Dinuba. This development will bring an affordable housing option to hardworking low-income families in Dinuba. Project financing includes State HOME and Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) funding, and includes bike lanes, sidewalks and vanpool in partnership with the California Vanpool Authority. Construction is expected to start May 30.

Solinas Village/Almond Court: Self-Help Enterprises will complete a $5.5 million rehabilitation of the Solinas Village and Almond Court apartment rental communities, which were constructed more than 20 years ago. 

Palm Terrace: The final financing application for the Palm Terrace apartment rental community in Lindsay has been submitted. This development is 50-units of rental housing and includes a $1.1 million roundabout at the intersection of Westwood and Hermosa.  The project is being funded with State Multifamily Housing Program (MHP) and AHSC funding in partnership with California Vanpool Authority and the City of Lindsay.  The project should start construction in August 2017.
Patterson Self-Help Housing : Financing for the development of the first 41 single-family lots has been awarded by the City of Patterson and SHE has secured a USDA 524 loan. SHE plans to start construction on the lots this fall and be recruiting families to build their own home in the spring of 2018.
Orosi Self-Help Housing : Sewer and water service has been secured for 34 units of single-family housing in Orosi. The finished lots will be ready for families to start building their own homes in mid-2018.
Annadale Commons : Self-Help Enterprises is working on its first senior rental housing project in southwest Fresno on Annadale. The project is adjacent to the Clinica Sierra Vista health clinic and across from a school and community center, which provides senior meals daily. The project includes approximately 28 single-family homes and 40 senior rental units. It is being developed in partnership with the City of Fresno Redevelopment housing successor agency. 
Walsburg Townhomes : To preserve the affordability of the Walsburg Townhomes in Woodlake, Self-Help Enterprises is taking ownership of the 11 rental units. In partnership with the City of Woodlake, there will be immediate minor rehabilitation and a more substantial rehabilitation in the future.
Lofts at Fort Visalia :  Self-Help Enterprises has prepared a concept for a new rental project in downtown Visalia for a site located at the northwest corner of Bridge and Oak. SHE anticipates submitting a concept proposal in response to the Request for Proposals when issued by the City for the development of the site.
TOM'S TAKE: STATE FUNDING FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING
By Tom Collishaw, CEO of Self-Help Enterprises
As progressive as the State of California purports to be, there is at least one crisis that they have failed to respond to in recent years - the housing crisis.

The numbers are stunning....and pervasive. The majority of California households (over 3 million) are overpaying for housing, which is more than 30% of their income. More striking is the fact that 1.5 million mostly low-income California households are paying more than half of their income for housing! Add to this the fact that almost 1 in 4 of the nation's homeless population are Californians, and it is clear that using the term "crisis" is no exaggeration.

We've all heard of studio apartments in San Francisco renting for over $3,000, or couches being sublet in Silicon Valley. The temptation is to view this as an urban problem in areas with hyper economic growth. The fact is that a $1,000 apartment rent in Fresno is just as problematic for a family earning only $2,000 per month, which is a relatively common local wage of about $12 per hour.

The problem is exacerbated by the inexorable laws of supply and demand. Experts agree that to keep pace, California must produce 180,000 new units of housing each year, when we only produced 80,000 last year. The supply gap has been building for many years.

The lack of available affordable housing has a myriad of social and economic implications. Dwellings become overcrowded, adult children stay in parents' homes, the homeless population grows, and people who have housing have less money to spend on other parts of the economy. In a word, the trend is unsustainable.

And, in almost all near-term scenarios, the federal government is likely to scale back, possibly drastically, their funding for housing production.

So what has the state done in recent years? Pretty much nothing. Oh, there have been well intentioned attempts by some legislators to create new funding streams for affordable housing, or ease regulatory burdens on the creation of new units. Most have been derailed by powerful special interest groups or the governor's veto pen. It has been 10 years since the state has made a significant new investment in affordable housing - Prop 1C that was passed as part of Governor Schwarzenegger's infrastructure bond package. Those funds are gone.

There are actually more proposed bills in the state legislature this year than ever before that deal with some aspect of the housing crisis, several of which would provide funding for new units.

It's time to step up, California legislators. And then it will be time for the Governor to acknowledge the problem by supporting any effort to address the crisis.
EARLIMART STUDENTS TOUR BITWISE INDUSTRIES
Earlimart students residing at Self-Help Enterprises' Washington Plaza rental community, as well as students participating in the Tulare County Office of Education Choices program, took a field trip to Bitwise Industries in Fresno. Bitwise Industries, a hub of technological education, collaboration, and innovation, has sparked a growth in the tech industry that today puts Fresno on the technology map.
 
As part of the tour, students interacted with tech startups based at Bitwise, participated in an interactive robotics demo with an instructor, learned about career opportunities, and met Bitwise Co-Founder Irma Olguin who shared her personal success story of growing up in the rural community of Caruthers to becoming a leader in the tech field. As students residing in the rural community of Earlimart, they related to and were inspired by Irma's experience.
 
By the end of the Bitwise tour, the students' impression of tech jobs designed for the best computer coders transformed to an exciting and attainable goal that offers opportunities for various backgrounds and career interests.
 
The Bitwise tour is a unique collaboration between five entities: Self-Help Enterprises, Tulare County Office of Education/CHOICES, Earlimart School District, ImagineU Children's Museum and Bitwise. The tour was held in conjunction with a 10-session robotics course that takes place afterschool at Washington Plaza through May 9. Students learn basic programing, simple and complex logic, intro to simple powered machines, use of pneumatic power, energy storage, and participate in a competition build at the end of the course.

SELF-HELP ENTERPRISES RECEIVES SHADE STRUCTURE GRANT
Self-Help Enterprises has been named the recipient of a 2017 Shade Structure Program Grant by the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). The grant will provide up to $8,000 for the purchase and installation of a permanent shade structure over the playground at Villa de Guadalupe (pictured left), Self-Help Enterprises' apartment rental community in Orosi. Self-Help Enterprises is one of several organizations this year to receive a grant from the AAD's Shade Structure Program.
 
With temperatures reaching above 90 degrees for several days in the summer, the shade structure will protect the 95 children residing at Villa de Guadalupe from the dangers of sun exposure. To teach children and youth about the importance of sun protection, Self-Help Enterprises has developed a sun safety awareness plan and implemented the AAD approved curriculum "Good Skin Knowledge" and "Gigi Sun Safety Toolkit" in the afterschool program.

Children and teens are especially vulnerable to the damaging effects of the sun because of their time spent outdoors. Seeking shade is an easy way to reduce the risk of skin cancer. In addition to seeking shade, the Academy recommends everyone protect their skin from the sun by covering up and wearing broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher.
 
Visalia dermatologist Joy Torakawa, MD, FAAD, a member of the Academy, sponsored the grant application. The Shade Structure Grant Program is part of the Academy's SPOT Skin Cancerâ„¢ campaign to reduce the incidence of skin cancer by educating the public about effective skin cancer prevention tips.
 
Self-Help Enterprises will be holding a dedication ceremony for the new shade structure after its installation. Watch this space for details.   
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