About Supportive Housing
Supportive housing – permanent, affordable housing linked to health, mental health, employment, and other support services – is a proven, cost-effective way to end homelessness for people who face the most complex challenges. By providing chronically homeless people with a way out of expensive emergency public services and back into their own homes and communities, supportive housing not only improves the lives of its residents but also generates significant public savings.
Why We Need Supportive Housing?
Too many men, women, and children experience homelessness in the United States:
- At least a half a million Americans do not have a place to call home each night.
- As many as one percent of all Americans find themselves homeless at some point each year.
- As many as 250,000 American households—including at least 12,000 to 15,000 families with children—have nowhere to call home for years on end.
- Ten percent of those who become homeless every year are people who are homeless for the long term; they use 50 percent of shelter capacity.
For chronically homeless people—who measure their homelessness in years, instead of weeks or months—mental illness, substance use, and physical disabilities often create additional barriers to stability and a new life off of the streets.
Supportive Housing is Permanent Housing
People who live in supportive housing sign leases and pay rent, just like their neighbors. Supportive housing and shelters are not the same thing, but they complement each other. Shelters work well for what they’re designed for – emergencies and short-term situations, not as long-term housing.
GREEN MODULAR BUILDING – SOLAR ENERGY
Buildings consume sixty-seven percent of America’s electricity, while spewing out half the nation’s greenhouse emissions.
Almost half of the waste choking our landfills comes from construction. We can do better. WĀV will be the first LEED™Certified affordable housing project in Ventura, and only the second in the State of California. The WĀV project will harness enough solar energy to actually provide electricity to the regional grid. LEED™ designed buildings are healthier for the inhabitants and the environment, while conserving our precious natural resources.