CENTURY VILLAGES AT CABRILLO INC

Century Villages at Cabrillo began as a former naval base on the Westside of Long Beach. In 1997, the property was conveyed to Century Housing under the McKinney Act following the closure of the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. Immediately, Century worked with the City of Long Beach, nonprofit partners, and government agencies to redevelop 27 acres of this land into a comprehensive community benefiting the homeless. Today, Century Villages at Cabrillo is a vibrant community and home to over 1,500 Veterans, families, and individuals. We have developed and currently operate nearly 900 homes coupled with a continuum of shelter and bridge housing options. Our latest development, The Cove, will open in February 2024, bringing 90 additional homes for Veterans. We offer affordable, dignified housing with an array of services, amenities, and activities benefiting our residents while serving as a place-based asset enriching Long Beach. With a dozen co-located partners and 30 ad hoc partners, the Villages uses the Collective Impact framework to move residents from homelessness to self-sufficiency and stability so they may thrive.

Residents are formerly or chronically unhoused, and many have experienced substance abuse, survived domestic violence, are diagnosed with a mental illness, or have a physical disability. Roughly 93% of residents are extremely low income, defined as earning less than $35,750/family of four. Despite these challenges, residents of The Villages are committed to improving their lives and can do so with the stability and healing environment provided by The Villages. Through our Oasis Residential Services, CVC provides comprehensive resident services to help ensure housing stability and provide access to critical tools and resources to build life skills and foster greater self-sufficiency. In addition to directly providing these services through Oasis, services are also provided by members of the Villages at Cabrillo Collaborative (VACC), a partnership comprising more than a dozen co-located agencies, including a federally qualified health clinic, workforce development programs, early childhood education, and substance abuse counseling. An additional 30 partnering agencies are located off-site to provide critical supportive services and resources.

Core services are summarized below:

*Affordable Housing: A continuum of safe, dignified, and affordable housing is provided for families and individuals in crisis. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of the residents reside in permanent supportive housing, four percent (9%) in short-term emergency housing, and the remainder, twenty-eight percent (28%), live in transitional housing to prepare residents for independent living. The Villages also includes amenities such as indoor and outdoor community spaces, an urban forest, a children’s playground, three acres of community garden plots, and inviting common areas to build social connection among residents and encourage healthy lifestyles.

*Oasis Resident Services (Oasis): Through Oasis, CVC provides numerous critical services for the most vulnerable and hardest to serve residents, including: Intensive Case Management for those who need a greater level of support due to special needs such as a diagnosed mental illness; Case Management for residents needing access to community resources, public benefits, or crisis intervention; Youth and Families Services to foster stronger parenting skills and stability among children and youth; Community Engagement activities to build social connections and mitigate isolation; Pathways to Health to provide healthy living education and activities to facilitate wellness; and a Clinical team and Occupational Therapy to offer more intense, specialized support integrated with other services. All services include regular support for parents and a trauma-informed program for youth to improve social emotional health and increase resiliency while they heal from trauma.

*Backbone Support for Collaborative Service Partners: CVC provides support for more than 12 on-site and over 30 off-site nonprofit and government agencies so that they may collectively work together to provide a range of supportive services for residents of the community. CVC’s role includes facilitating roundtables, offering shared training opportunities, planning community-wide events and resident forums, supporting program evaluation, publishing the annual Social Impact Report, and supporting the Villages at Cabrillo Collaborative (VACC), a formal partnership of the leadership of partners at The Villages that supports the community and serves as an advisory council to CVC. Through strategic planning and advocacy, the VACC provides guidance and oversight of the community resources and seeks ways to collaborate to better leverage and expand those resources.