Campus Social Hall to be Improved by Volunteer Event: Sign up now!!!
May 1st
On Saturday, May 5, 2012 Century Villages at Cabrillo will host a community volunteer event organized through a collaboration with Rebuilding Together Long Beach and Big Sunday. Volunteers will paint the interior of the campus social hall, an iconic space at the Villages at Cabrillo that was once home to social functions at the former Navy housing site. Today, the Social Hall serves as a gathering space for resident groups and community meetings at Century Villages at Cabrillo, an organization whose mission is to break the cycle of homelessness. Additional volunteers are needed and the volunteer event is open to the public. Please RSVP to Amber Bradshaw at (562) 388-7810. 
WHEN: Saturday, May 5, 2012, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
WHERE: 2001 River Avenue
Long Beach, California 90810 Directions
Dedication of Campus Landscape Barrier and Arbor Day Celebration
Apr 23rd
On Friday, April 27, 2012, Century Villages at Cabrillo will celebrate Arbor Day through the Dedication of its Campus Landscape Barrier. The Barrier is comprised of carefully selected trees planted along the western perimeter of the Villages at Cabrillo campus. The Dedication ceremony will commemorate the planting of 191 trees which serve as a natural filter of localized air pollution to the 1,000 residents of the campus, including more than 400 children. City of Long Beach 7th District Councilman, James Johnson, will serve as Master of Ceremonies. The community event is open to the public. Please RSVP to Beulah Ku at 310-642-2003. For more information on the Barrier, please visit: www.centuryvillages.org/?page_id=879
CVC’s Landscape Barrier is supported by a grant from the Port of Long Beach Mitigation Grant Program for Schools and Related Sites. In addition, the project received extensive financial and logistical support from the City of Long Beach including an AQMD grant. Through the Adopt-a-Tree fundraising program, the project counts on significant private support including donations from Long Beach Container Terminal, Warren E&P, BNSF Railway, SSA Marine, Thomas Safran & Associates, JPMorganChase Foundation, Meta Housing, 401(k) Advisors, Data Select Systems, EastWest Bank, ICON Builders, Irvine Valley Air Conditioning, and Frenkel & Company, among others.
WHEN: Friday, April 27, 2012, 9:30 am
WHERE: Intersection of San Gabriel Avenue and Williams Street, Long Beach, California 90810 Directions
Inaugural Villages at Cabrillo Social Impact Report
Apr 20th
We have just published our inaugural 2011 Villages at Cabrillo Social Impact Report! The Social Impact Report represents the culmination of a year-long effort to aggregate social impacts across ten (10) of our community’s non profit service providers. Historically, Villages at Cabrillo service providers have separately and independently reported out to their funders while attempts to report on a campus-wide basis were assumption-driven, anecdotal, and largely focused on “activities.” The Social Impact Report attempts to address these deficiencies through an aggregated approach that is data-driven, empirical, and ultimately focused on the mission-inspired “outcomes” we are seeking to create in combating homelessness.
CVC worked closely with Professor Beth Manke, Ph.D., from the California State University, Long Beach to produce this Report. Dr. Manke conducted extensive interviews and subsequently collected actual performance reports from each service provider organization. This information was analyzed, assimilated and aggregated to form the basis of the Report.
The inaugural 2011 Villages at Cabrillo Social Impact Report found that:
- 1,831 individuals were housed and served last year.
- Campus service providers leveraged more than $9.9 million of annual service funding to support their programs and services.
- CVC’s housing options are 11.4 times more effective than the alternative costs of chronic homelessness.
- 184 staff are employed across CVC and its partners.
- 34,479 volunteer hours were contributed on campus. This equates to a value of $736,461 of contributed labor and is the equivalent of more than 16.5 full time positions.
- Child development outcomes were 1.85 times more effective at CVC’s on site center versus other centers outside CVC, operated by same provider.
- 82% of residents graduating from short term housing programs moved into either permanent, transitional, or another shelter.
- 48% of residents in short term housing programs increased their income during their stay, which was often less than 6 months.
The Report reveals the tremendous social and economic impact delivered by the Villages at Cabrillo campus and its many collaborative partners. It reflects a piece of the social return on investment against the more than $72 million of capital that has been invested in the Villages at Cabrillo campus since inception in 1997. Going forward, CVC has committed to producing the Social Impact Report on an annual basis and intends to use the information to improve the performance of the campus against its mission.
The 2011 Villages at Cabrillo Social Impact Report was graciously underwritten by a grant from the Knight Foundation in concert with the Long Beach Community Foundation. We would like to recognize the efforts of Professor Beth Manke, CSULB’s Center for Community Engagement, and the California Conference on Equality and Justice. The success of the Villages at Cabrillo community is attributable to a pioneering public-private partnership. To this end, we must acknowledge the City of Long Beach for its leadership and support over the years without which the Villages at Cabrillo would not be possible. In particular, we thank Mayor Bob Foster, Council District #7 Councilman James Johnson, the Health & Human Services Department, the Housing Services Bureau, and the Planning Department, among others. We also offer our gratitude to the County of Los Angeles and our 4th District Supervisor, Don Knabe, who has provided extensive support to the Villages at Cabrillo campus over the years. Lastly we would like to especially thank each of our service provider partners for their trust and cooperation in this process and their abiding commitment to ending homelessness.
Family Shelter I and II Grand Opening
Mar 23rd
On Monday, March 19th, Century Villages at Cabrillo and Catholic Charities of Los Angeles celebrated the long anticipated Grand Opening of the expanded Elizabeth Ann Seton Residence (also known as Family Shelters I and II). The Grand Opening was very well attended and featured the Most Reverend Jose Gomez, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Oscar Solis, Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese San Pedro Region, Suja Lowenthal, Vice Mayor of the City of Long Beach, Sean Rogan, Executive Director of the LA County Community Development Commission, Susan Price, Bureau Manager in the City of Long Beach Department of Health & Human Services, along with other local and State officials, Board members, partner agencies, current and former clients of the Elizabeth Ann Seton Residence, and friends and colleagues.
The new shelter complex replaces and expands the existing Elizabeth Ann Seton Residence which has operated at CVC since 1998. The new facility features expanded capacity and more appropriate space for the provision of shelter and supportive services for homeless families, including safe and secure family dwellings, shared recreational play space, a community room, counseling offices, a commercial kitchen, and dining facilities.
The main goal of the Elizabeth Ann Seton Residence is to assist families transition from the crisis of being homeless to the stability of long-term housing. The program emphasizes setting realistic goals and gaining the resources and skills to become self-sufficient. Families stay 45 days in order to access stable housing. The new Family Shelter complex expands CVC’s continuum of supportive housing which fosters self-sufficiency and independence. As families matriculate from the shelter complex, they are eligible for the various transitional or permanent housing opportunities on the CVC campus.
Family Shelters I and II are structured as separate and independent projects. With a combined cost of $5.0 million, the Family Shelter projects exhibit a constellation of 7 distinct funding sources, both public and private. CVC and Catholic Charities closed on the omnibus financing package in December 2010, construction began in January 2011, and the shelters were opened in March 2012. This combined project has been more than 8 years in the making, with CVC’s original funding application submitted to HCD in 2004. Click here for a Project Summary.
CVC and Catholic Charities would like to thank their capital and service funding partners including Supervisor Don Knabe, the County of Los Angeles Community Development Commission, the State of California Department of Housing & Community Development, the City of Long Beach Department of Health & Human Services, the Weingart Foundation, the Ahmanson Foundation, and the Dan Murphy Foundation.
The new development was recently featured in the Long Beach Grunion-Gazette, click here for the article.
The newly formed Villages at Cabrillo Collaborative
Feb 18th
We are pleased to announce that the Villages at Cabrillo’s “ED group” has been officially recast as the Villages at Cabrillo Collaborative (the “Collaborative” or “VACC”). On Thursday, February 16, 2012 Collaborative officially ratified and signed the Villages at Cabrillo Collaborative Agreement (“VACCA”). The VACCA enshrines the group’s collective aspirations, defines the purpose of the collaborative, establishes the core functions of the collaborative, and clearly identifies the roles, responsibilities and expectations of being a Villages at Cabrillo collaborative member.
This was a truly a watershed moment for the Villages as our Collaboration was renewed nearly 10 years after it initially came into existence. The occasion was the capstone of an 8 month process of facilitated meetings that entailed much passion, emotion, airing of frustrations, clarifications, reconciliation, and acknowledgement that we are united for the same purpose. The day’s festivities were marked by ceremonial signing of the agreement with commemorative pens, photos, and cake.
With the VACCA in place, the Collaborative is poised for a very promising future. In addition to ratifying the VACCA the group also appointed a Steering Committee that will be responsibile for assisting CVC with the responsibility of convening and leading the Collaborative over the next two years.
Congratulations to the first VACC Steering Committee
Chair: Carina Sass
Vice Chair: Greg McCormack
Member at large: Nancy Lomibao
We are truly grateful to Rene Castro and Patrice Marshall from the California Conference for Equality and Justice (“CCEJ”) for all of their help in this process. And we owe much credit to all of our service provider partners that were present during this process for their energy, honesty, and trust. Watch for an article about this accomplishment in the next Village Anchor, set to be published in early March.
