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Event celebrates housing for mental health consumers in Ridgecrest
Topics: ridgecrest, NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness, mental ill, volunteers, Community Action, Community Action Partnership of Kern
Posted by communityactionpartnership Mon Nov 5, 2007 10:21:48 PST
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Community Action Partnership and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill held a ceremonial “breaking of the ground” of the Desert Willow Apartments today in Ridgecrest. The event marks the completion of a seven year long journey to provide rent assisted, supportive housing, and independent living for very low income adults with mental disabilities.

 

“I’m not here today to talk about anything controversial,” said Thomas Wiknich, Vice Mayor, who presented a proclamation from the city, “I’m putting that aside for today only,” he laughed. When he asked the over 110 who attended the ceremony they overwhelming voiced their wish for Donna Pockrandt, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill/Kern County – Ridgecrest volunteer, to accept the accolades. Pockrandt has worked diligently for seven years, ringing any door bell and making any phone calls, necessary to try to bring supportive housing for this population. The proclamation commended the hard work of those who’ve diligently worked to have this vision come to a reality.

 

The celebration, kicking off construction, took place Friday, November 2, at 10:30 am,  at the site of the future residence, at 1336 N El Prado in Ridgecrest.

 

Desert Willow apartments will  serve adult consumers receiving mental health services from the Ridgecrest Branch of College Community Services (CCS), an outpatient clinic operating under contract with Kern County Mental Health (KCMH). Tenants will be drawn from the City of Ridgecrest, China Lake Naval Base, Inyokern Community Service District, and the unincorporated areas and communities of Indian Wells Valley and the Rand areas.

 

“Look behind us and envision if you will,” said Partnership Executive Director Fred A. Drew, (who is also the chairman of the board for the Desert Willow Apartments nonprofit established by the Partnership), who described the new campus and apartments. Vacancy rates here are low and rents are rising rapidly due to planned increases in the civil service workforce at the nearby naval base. A 1999 housing assessment by KCMH showed that almost one half of the approximately 250 adult mental health consumers served by CCS were living in local motels due to a shortage of single room and one bedroom apartments. “We needed to provided a better quality of life for these folks,” Drew added.

The Code of Federal Regulations defines a mental disability as a severe and persistent mental or emotional impairment that seriously limits a person’s ability to live independently, and which could be improved by more suitable housing conditions. Examples of such impairments or disorders include, but are not limited to: schizophrenia, bi-polarity, or major depression. More specifically, the target population for this project will include persons whose psychiatric symptoms are reasonable stable, and who possess the minimal life skills necessary to succeed in an independent living situation with outside supportive services.

 

The complex will include five one story buildings with a combined total area of 11,300 square feet. The buildings will be wood and stucco with composition shingle roofing and will include:

·         A 900 square foot, two bedroom manager’s apartment

·         A 1,600 square foot community center for resident meetings, group meals, social events, and recreational and cultural activities. It will include a TV/VCR and personal computer stations

·         A four-plex with 550 square foot one bedroom units

·         Two 2,750 square foot one bedroom unit five-plexe

·         A lighted, half basketball court

·         And landscaped garden and patio areas.

One bedroom apartments will be arranged in a “U” shaped configuration around a central courtyard and covered patio. All buildings will include basic appliances including stoves, refrigerators, and even window curtains. Resident apartments will include a living room, bathroom, bedroom, and combined living area and kitchen space, covered porch, evaporative cooler, and wall furnaces. The complex will be neatly packaged with a six foot wooden fence enclosing the complex.

 

In November 2004, the Partnership was awarded a HUD Section 811 Program of Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities fund reservation. The grant covered the purchase of the land and building construction costs. In addition the grant will provide rental assistance making the apartments affordable to very low income persons, for a five year period.

 

Community Action Partnership of Kern agreed to sponsor the Desert Willow project at the request of, and in collaboration with, a Ridgecrest citizen’s group, which includes local members of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Kern Consumer Action Network, Creating Healthy Lives, and the College Community Services. The project has received wide spread support from both government and the community, including written endorsements from the Ridgecrest City Council, Supervisor Jon McQuiston of the Kern County Board of supervisors, the United Way of Indian Wells Valley, the Ridgecrest Area Association of Realtors, the Indian Wells Valley Collaborative, the Kern County Homeless Collaborative, and the Kern County Mental Health Department.

 

For more information about the Desert Willow apartments, call Community Action Partnership of Kern, at 661-336-5236 or 888-445-0090; or email info@capk.org.

 

Community Action Partnership of Kern is a private, non-profit corporation, created in 1965 to combat poverty in Kern County. Over 1,000 Community Action Partnerships across the United States work to provide and advocate for resources that empower people  to have the skills and resources necessary to improve their quality of life and become self-sufficient. Community Action Partnership of Kern’s 800 employees provide an integrated network of services, with 15 major programs, and no eligibile person is turned away.

The Partnership serves and  improves the quality of life for approximately 140,000 Kern County individuals each year.

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