At the intersection of Bassett and Terraine Streets in downtown San Jose, our 135 unit apartment complex is gearing up for residents! Named after long-time First Community Housing staff member, Tom Iamesi, Iamesi Village will offer 118 studio units, 16 one-bedroom units at 30-50% of the Area Median Income.
Iamesi Village is the affordable portion of the North San Pedro Residential Project, a large multi-phased housing master plan being developed by Intracorp Companies, Barry Swenson Builder, and First Community Housing, in partnership with the San Jose Redevelopment Agency.
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Thank you to all of the funders that made this project possible:
CalHFA • Citibank
California Dept. of Housing and Community Development
Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program (AHSC)
California Dept. of Housing and Community Development
Former Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Jose
Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program (VHHP)
Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Program
The Housing Trust Silicon Valley
Raymond James • Santa Clara County Measure A
Section 8 Project-based Vouchers
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Graduates, Leigh Avenue Senior Apartments, San Jose |
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Program Highlight
Empowering Residents Through Technology and Digital Literacy!
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By Kristen Yamada
Digital Literacy Program Manager
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Although COVID-19 has worsened the digital divide for many, residents enrolled in our digital literacy programming have persevered. Throughout the pandemic we have kept our commitments to our partnering agencies and grant funders: San Jose Digital Inclusion Fund, California Emerging Technology Fund, City of San Jose, San Jose Mayor’s Office of Tech & Innovation, The Tech Exchange, and California Public Utilities Commission by keeping our most vulnerable populations including individuals, families, senior citizens, and those with special needs like chronic and mental illness and developmental disabilities engaged in virtual and in-person educational activities.
So far this year, 170 households and counting living at our properties in San Jose have benefited from a device, internet access, and digital literacy training thanks to a grant from the San Jose’s Digital Inclusion Fund. San Jose Digital Inclusion Fund aims to close the digital divide that exists in San Jose within the next 10 years.
This year alone, an additional 67 households residing at our properties in Mountain View, Morgan Hill, Redwood City, and San Jose benefited from a device, internet access, and digital literacy training on a variety of important technical skills and topics including, Windows 10 OS, conducing basic internet searches (focus on healthy living), job searching, resume and cover letter writing, internet safety, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and so much more thanks to funding from First Community Housing and The California Public Utilities Commission.
We are so proud of our residents and their newly acquired technical skills. From having an opportunity to keep in touch with their loved ones safety near and far via video conferencing during these challenging times, seeing what foods are healthy for them and what cleaning products are safe for the environment, to reentering the workforce, resident programming offered by First Community Housing is helping those we serve to become lifelong learners all while empowering them with the tools and skills needed to continue to live independent and healthy lives.
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Leigh Avenue Senior Apartments Grand Opening! |
Join us for an outdoor Grand Opening event on Wednesday, November 17, 2021, 9:30-11:30 AM. |
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Community gardens at FCH properties |
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Food Justice for All Grant Received! |
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By Alysyn Martinez
Healthy Food Access Manager
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With funding from the Health Trust, First Community Housing conducted the "Food Justice for All" grant program. The year-long program focused on conducting a resident needs assessment to understand resident needs broadly, and more specifically to address food access concerns across our Santa Clara County properties. We received feedback from over 60% of households, providing a holistic point-in-time view of the needs of our resident communities.
Using the data collected we bridged partnerships to support new and existing food programs, including creation of a Healthy Food Access Intern program, Mobile Farmer's Market at four properties, and additional staff support for our on-site Resident Service Coordinators.
The grant also supported the launch of our Micro-Urban Farm Pilot Project at Second Street Studios, in addition to revitalizing our eight community gardens. A huge thank-you to the Health Trust for the funding to launch this wonderful project, the impacts of which will continue serving our residents for years to come!
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Staff and family at the 2021 FCH Picnic |
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You may have noticed that the First Community Housing staff is growing! This summer, we welcomed five new full time employees and three interns in order to meet the needs of our expanding project pipeline and our resident services programs. Say "hello" and welcome to:
- Shiliang (Sam) Guan, Accounting Manager
- Monjia Belizaire, Project Manager
- Sandra Heredia, Senior Project Manager
- Harjeet Reehal, Permanent Supportive Housing Manager
- Gaby Haddad, Assistant Project Manager
- Naxely Belmont, Digital Literacy Instructional Intern
- Danny Garcia, Development Intern
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Leigh Avenue Wins SVBJ Structures Award! |
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The FCH team is honored to announce that Leigh Avenue Senior Apartments has recently received the 2021 Structures Award in the Affordable Residential Project category. This prestigious award was presented by the Silicon Valley Business Journal at their virtual event on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021.
As a side note, Leigh Avenue Senior Apartments was also selected as a finalist for the Affordable Housing Finance magazine award in the seniors housing category for the 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards. Sadly, we didn't win that one. What do they say at the Oscar's? "It was lovely to be nominated." Fingers crossed for next year.
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FCH in the News
Take a moment to follow us on social media to see the latest updates!
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FCH is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, EIN 77-0119210.
If you shop on Amazon, you can select FCH as your donor charity on AmazonSmile!
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