Foster Care Teenagers No Longer Homeless

Affordable Housing Associates Opens Its Doors to "Aged-Out" Foster Care Youth in New, Green Housing Contact: Susan Friedland, Executive Director 510-649-8500 x15 sfriedland_at_ahainc.org June 26, 2008 - Oakland, Calif. - Affordable Housing Associates today makes available 20 residential units in its newly opened Madison @ 14th Apartments for some of the more than 600 Bay Area teenagers discharged each year from foster care upon turning 18 years old. Affordable Housing Associate's latest housing achievement provides shelter and support services for emancipated foster care youth who are suddenly without housing, a source of income, adult encouragement or community support. Through a groundbreaking partnership with First Place For Youth, Madison @ 14th provides support programming to transitioning foster care youth that includes employment and education counseling, physical and mental health workshops, economic literacy classes, transition groups, self-sufficiency skills development, and community building events. Susan Friedland, executive director of Affordable Housing Associates, remarks, "Madison @ 14th continues our leadership in building affordable housing centered around residents with programs, architecture and design that make an impact. Properties developed by Affordable Housing Associates are more than places to live - they are places of support, growth and opportunity." "First Place For Youth will provide intensive case management and resource advocacy to former foster youth living at the Madison @ 14th Apartments," according to Sam Cobb, executive director of First Place For Youth. "There will be an on-site resource and referral center that may be accessed by the youth who receive our housing subsidies, as well as any other transition-age youth, ages 18-24, living in the Madison @ 14th building." Madison @ 14th includes 79 permanently affordable apartments for low-income families and youth at-risk of homelessness. Designed by Leddy Maytum and Stacy, and constructed by Nibbi Brothers, Madison @ 14th was recently awarded a Bay Area regional Design Award for "Exceptional Residential Building" by the American Institute of Architecture. Richard Stacy, partner at Leddy Maytum Stacy, adds, "The AIA jury commended Madison @ 14th as a design that is sophisticated and high quality, and did not look like typical affordable housing. Rather than trying to just fit in, the design is a positive and self-confident addition to the neighborhood. The jury appreciated added project amenities like landscaped open space, abundant natural light and other 'green' features." Madison @ 14th includes photo-voltaic solar panels to provide energy needed for lighting and heating the common areas and community and social service space, thus allowing for lower operating costs, increased debt capacity and greater tax credit equity. Distinguishing architectural features include: DESIGN: The colorful and lively exterior design expresses the building's mixture of uses (retail, community, parking and residential spaces) while taking advantage of abundant natural light and views in and out. COMMUNITY: The mixture of high-quality affordable housing, social services, neighborhood-serving retail and concealed parking enhance the neighborhood and support the local community. INNOVATION: The building's innovative features include rooftop photovoltaic panels, an integrated water/heating system, custom "rain screen" exterior cladding, parking lifts and a central core seismic structural system. About Foster Care "Aged-Out" Youth * Less than half of emancipated youth graduated from high school, compared to 85 percent of all 18-to-24-year-olds * Fewer than one in eight graduated from a four-year college * Two-thirds had not maintained employment for a year * Fewer than one in five was completely self-supporting * More than a quarter of the males spent time in jail * Four of 10 had become parents as a result of an unplanned pregnancy * Male and female former foster youth are 10 times more likely to be arrested since age 18 than youth of the same age, race and sex US Department of Health and Human Services / San Francisco Chronicle / University of Chicago (2007) About Madison @ 14th Apartments Madison @ 14th Apartments are affordable to households earning between 25-60% AMI, and will target two traditionally underserved populations: homeless foster youth and working families. Each target population will benefit from a unique set of services and amenities designed around their specific needs and interests. The unit mix includes 13 studio, 37 one-bedroom, 19 two-bedroom, and 10 three-bedroom apartments. Forty-two percent of the units will be affordable to families earning less than 35% AMI, and 58% will be affordable to households earning between 35-60% AMI. Average rental rates across the entire project will be more than 20% below market. The development is within the Central District Redevelopment Area and the Mayor's 10K Plan, both of which encourage the revitalization of this area through the development of high-density, mixed-use housing. The project was funded by the City of Oakland, HUD Multifamily Housing Program, Federal Home Loan Bank, Enterprise Community Partners, Corporation for Supportive Housing and US Bank. About Affordable Housing Associates Incorporated in 1993, Affordable Housing Associates (AHA) is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. AHA's mission is "to strengthen the lives of individuals, families, and communities through affordable housing." AHA takes a hands-on approach to developing all of its projects, allowing it to build and maintain strong relationships with tenants and the communities in which they live. AHA meets with neighborhood residents, city commissions, and government agencies as an important part of every development, actively seeking input from the communities in which our projects are located and incorporating suggestions whenever possible. AHA counters urban sprawl by building and renovating housing in existing neighborhoods where public services are already in place and helps revitalize neighborhoods by removing blight. AHA strives to enhance the economic development of the populations we serve and of the larger community in which we operate by hiring locally and using local suppliers. In the 10 years since the organization was incorporated, AHA has developed 500 housing units in 18 residential communities, with another 400 units in various stages of development. About First Place For Youth First Place was founded in 1998 to remedy the lack of services available to a growing, yet largely overlooked, population of at-risk youth: youth who "age-out" or "emancipate" from the foster care system. Since 1998, First Place has grown from a grassroots project into a thriving community-based organization, with 17 employees and an annual budget of $ 1.3 million. First Place operates three programs: the Supported Housing Program, the Emancipation Training Center, and the Alameda County Foster Youth Alliance. ### Media Contact: Mel Ochoa 510/219-5515 melochoa@yahoo.com Affordable Housing Associates: Kevin Zwick, Deputy Executive Director 510/649-8500 x 14 kzwick@ahainc.org