Fifty miles south of Sacramento in San Joaquin County, the city of Stockton is locked in a housing affordability crisis that has forced its residents out of their homes and onto the street. The county estimates that on any given night, more than 1500 people are the streets or in temporary housing shelters. Many of these people are veterans and individuals with jobs, but their income still isn’t enough to keep up with the rising cost of rent. It’s an all too familiar story.
But a solution is on the horizon.
Funded by cap-and-trade money awarded through the California Climate Investment Program’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program, Anchor Village is scheduled to break ground in Stockton in 2016.
Led by Domus Development, Anchor Village will provide 51 much-needed affordable apartments to low-income individuals. In conjunction with San Joaquin County Behavioral Health Services, Anchor Village will also offer permanent supportive housing and social services to support veterans at risk of homelessness and individuals living with mental illness. In 2010, the White House and the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs issued a plan to end homelessness among veterans by the end of 2015: this building goes far in advancing that goal.
Anchor Village will be the first transit-oriented development in the Central Valley to be funded through cap-and-trade. For those residents living in Stockton and working in the Bay Area, reliable transit is close by. Residents will be able to easily walk to the grocery store and take the bus to work or school, so they don’t need to rely on a car to get around. Secure indoor bike storage means people can easily store their bicycles when they are not using them without worrying about theft. Additionally, the building will be designed to LEED Silver standards using sustainable and green materials that limit its impact on the environment.
Anchor Village is one building that houses many solutions. By bringing affordable, clean, sustainable, and beautiful homes to a community in dire need, this development is helping to ease the burdens of income insecurity, veteran homelessness, and a reliance on driving. Above all, Anchor Village offers people the opportunity to live in dignity.
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Anchor Village is just one of the 28 projects funded by the state's Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program. To see where these projects are located, and how they're impacting communities throughout California, visit www.ClimateBenefitsCA.org and search Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities.