Permanent Supportive Housing Breaks Ground In Santa Cruz
The City of Santa Cruz recently broke ground on a new permanent supportive housing project, Harvey West Studios, that is planned to include 120 homes for people exiting homelessness. It will be the largest development of its kind in Santa Cruz County.
Owned by the nonprofit Housing Matters, Harvey West Studios will include on-site case management and supportive services. MidPen Housing will develop the five-story, energy-efficient structure with a ground-floor space for residents to find community and receive support.
“We want to help assist toward success the people who fall into homelessness in our community,” Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley said at the groundbreaking event. “We need to be able to help folks, so their lives don’t hit the ground and shatter.”
Amenities for residents include a community kitchen, laundry facilities, on-site support staff offices, secured bike parking, a recuperative care center, and a health clinic that will be operated by Housing Matters and the County of Santa Cruz Homeless Persons Health Project.
HCD provided more than $43 million in funding through its No Place Like Home and Multifamily Housing Programs. Permanent supportive housing is a cornerstone of housing stability, and programs like No Place Like Home, Homekey, and Proposition 1’s Homekey+ continue to assist communities in developing the supportive housing California needs.