CVHC honored with special recognition

Public Record, The, Jul 1, 2008 by Slahor, Stephenie

Founded in 1982, the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition (CVHC) operates as a non-profit housing development corporation to assist low- and very low-income families. Active in advocacy, research, construction and operation of housing and community development projects, the CVHC has provided about 3,000 houses and apartments in Riverside and Imperial Counties.

The CVHC was formed in response to a lack of good housing for low-income families, individuals and farm workers. Since an Aetna Foundation grant of $10,000 to get the CVHC underway, the agency has constructed 26 multi-family developments with 1,713 units, including two migrant farm worker residential facilities, 21 rental homes, homes for persons with special needs due to age, disability or illness, and California's only housing complex for retired farm workers. More than 1,200 self-help homes have been constructed through the CVHC, including Cancanillas in Coachella, with 48 home contractor-built houses for very low-income families.

Self-help homes have been built in Coachella, Indio, Mecca, Salton City, North Shore, Brawley, Blythe, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, and La Quinta. Also, 50 contractor-built homes have been completed, along with the rehabilitation of 90 houses.

As part of its advocacy role, the CVHC has made possible 8 childcare centers, after-school tutoring programs, 6 computer technology centers, and other programs and activities in community support services.

With such a record, it was only natural that the CVHC be recognized for its work. The agency's most recent honor came from Affordable Housing Finance Magazine, which designated the CVHC among the top 50 of the nation's affordable housing developers.

John F. Mealey has served as Executive Director of the CVHC since its start. He said the recent honor is a result of research and surveys done by the magazine about affordable housing developers.

Mealey said it was a bit of a surprise to have the CVHC honored because many of the top 50 are nationwide developers while the CVHC is strictly local. "We really just work here, and just to be listed is quite an accomplishment," he said of the recognition.

The CVHC is currently building a 218-apartment project in La Quinta named "Wolff Waters," and scheduled for completion by the end of 2009.

A subdivision of 204 single-family homes in Mecca is currently under construction, and another Mecca project of about 60 homes will be underway shortly, said Mealey.

Over the past year or so, projects were completed in Desert Hot Springs and Palm Springs, and additional projects will also be done in those cities in the coming year.

CVHC project funding comes from corporate and foundation grants, Federal, State and local sources, major banks and even private donations.

The CVHC was honored in 2007 for its Arroyo de Paz housing project in Desert Hot Springs, which was named the "best multi-family affordable housing project in southern California" by the Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing.

Mealey said CVHC staff member, Rigoberto Ramirez, recently received honors as "Employee of the Year" for non-profit groups in California. He originally came to CVHC as someone who worked on his own mutual self-help home, and was soon after hired by the CVHC to supervise construction managers on similar projects.

With the need for affordable housing so prevalent in the Coachella Valley, the CVHC's critical role shall continue. "We're looking forward to doing more and more for the next hundred years or so!" said Mealey.