Housing Projects Receive Grants

A homeless shelter being built at the former Tustin Marine base received $1 million in construction funds Thursday, the largest of seven grants given to low-income housing projects in Orange County.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, a federally sponsored lender that provides low-interest mortgages to low-income housing programs, awarded nearly $3 million to Orange County projects out of a $43-million giveaway nationwide.

The privately held bank donates millions every year to deserving projects, said bank official Jim Yacenda at the Anaheim news conference where the grants were announced.

The conference was at Sterling Court, a 33-unit apartment complex for low-income seniors that received $170,000 from the bank last year.

This year’s grants to Orange County include $150,000 to Jackson Aisle Apartments, a 29-unit complex for disabled homeless people under construction in Midway City; $180,000 to Brookfield Homes and Laing Homes, an Anaheim Housing Authority sponsored program to build 12 single-family homes for low-income first-time home buyers and $420,000 to Cherry Orchard Apartments, a motel in Anaheim being converted into low-rent senior housing.

The grants also include $120,000 to another Anaheim Housing Authority sponsored program, Brookfield Homes-Presidential Tract, which is building eight single-family homes for low-income first-time home buyers; $207,000 to Casa Alegre, a homeless shelter in Anaheim for people who have AIDS; and $600,000 to Dorado Senior Apartments in Buena Park.

The grant “is going to help us make significant progress in our construction,” said Dan Raatjes, a spokesman for Village of Hope, the Tustin homeless shelter that received the largest grant in Orange County.

The 5-acre complex under construction at the former base will house 196 people and offer medical, dental, job training and child care services.

It is possibly the most comprehensive homeless shelter in the country, Raatjes said.

Orange County Rescue Mission, the faith-based agency that will run it, is building the $24-million facility with the help of local public and private organizations.

Thursday’s grant, Raatjes said, cuts the amount the shelter needs to $3.5 million.

The shelter is scheduled to open in August.