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Kennedy Commission Projects |
| Gaining Ground: Housing Element Community Engagement Campaign |
| Homes For Early Learning: Child Care Centers Co-Located With Housing |
| Santa Ana Collaborative for Responsible Development |
| Enrichment Toolbox: Community Outreach and Education Programs |
| Gaining Ground: Housing Element Community Engagement Campaign (2007-2009) |
| Each city and county in California is required by law to plan for the development of new affordable housing. Each city has a General Plan, which acts as a local constitution for land use and development. This plan includes a housing plan known as the Housing Element. The Housing Element must be updated every 5 years. Currently, cities are drafting a new Housing Element which must be competed by June 2008. |
| The regional council of governments allocates to each city and county a number of new housing units that must be planned for, this number is known as the RHNA (Regional Housing Needs Allocation). Each city's RHNA is further divided into income categories, including Very Low, Low, Moderate, and Above Moderate. The RHNA is calculated based on a multitude of factors including land availability, population growth, job resources, etc. |
| The law does not require cities to build this housing; rather it requires cities to adopt a plan which allows for the development of this housing between 2008-2014. For example, within the Housing Element, cities must identify feasible sites to accommodate the construction of allocated units. Cities may also have to rezone land or remove building restrictions such as density or parking requirements to make the construction possible. |
| Cities are also required to engage the community in the housing element process, thus cities will be holding public workshops to discuss their intentions with the upcoming housing element. Cities must also make their drafts of the housing element available for public comment before the document is adopted. |
| It is extremely important for the community to be aware of the housing element process and for residents to attend workshops and express support for the development of affordable housing. The Housing Element revision process is an opportunity to get good housing measures implemented into our local communities, which will make the actual building of these units more possible over the next 5 years. |
| The Kennedy Commission has launched the Orange County Housing Element Campaign. The campaign's goals are threefold: |
- Educate cities and citizens about workable solutions to the affordable housing shortage (and, especially, show cities that have not built enough affordable housing how other cities have been more successful).
- Get these proven strategies into cities' housing elements, where they become enforceable commitments.
- Get more people and more organizations involved in housing advocacy locally and regionally for the long term.
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For more information about our Housing Element Campaign, please use the links below.
Housing Element Advocacy Timeline (PDF)
Orange County RHNA (PDF)
Housing Element Campaign (PDF)
Housing Element Toolbox (PDF) |
View Project Updates.
For a current list of cities which have released a Housing Element draft for public review, view Released Housing Element Drafts (PDF). |
For additional information, please contact Linda Tang. |
| Homes for Early Learning: Child Care Co-Located With Affordable Housing |
| In 2007, the Kennedy Commission received a capacity building grant from the Children and Families Commission of Orange County. This grant will enable the Commission to accomplish two important goals: complete an analysis of our organizational sustainability through the creation of a business plan and conduct research into the barriers to developing early learning (child care) centers co-located in affordable housing communities. |
| The Commission recognized that the co-located development model is working successfully in many California communities, but has not been implemented in Orange County. The Commission's research will focus on identifying successful aspects of co-located development models from other communities and identifying the barriers to development in two "case study" cities, Anaheim and Irvine. The results of the Commission's research will be published in a White Paper, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2008. |
| View Project Updates. |
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For more information, please contact Beverly Schuberth. |
| Santa Ana Collaborative for Responsible Development |
The Kennedy Commission has partnered with Orange County Congregation Community Organizations (OCCCO) and St. Joseph Hospital to form the Santa Ana Collaborative for Responsible Redevelopment, a low-income community leadership initiative in support of redevelopment reform in the Logan and Lacy neighborhoods in the City of Santa Ana, California. Currently, the city's redevelopment and planning processes for these neighborhoods have been conducted without the meaningful outreach and participation of the community's low-income Latino residents. Funded by the St. Joseph Health System Foundation, the collaborative will implement a training program that will provide low-income residents the technical knowledge and skills needed to engage decision-makers in the redevelopment, land use and housing policy arenas. |
| View Project Updates. |
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For additional information, please contact Linda Tang. |
| Enrichment Toolbox: Community Outreach and Education Programs |
Community Training Programs
Are you or do you know someone who is:
- Looking for housing in Orange County?
- Living in extremely crowded conditions?
- Commuting long distances to work each day?
- Having difficulty communicating with a landlord?
- Experiencing credit problems?
- Struggling to become personally empowered?
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The Kennedy Commission offers a variety of training options tailored specifically to meet the needs of community members (residents), community-based groups, health care staff or patients, faith-based organizations, and business and city/county professionals. The training process may include an initial needs assessment, presentation development, presentations, follow-up sessions and final evaluations. |
Individual presentations may consist of one or more sessions utilizing several instructional approaches to learning, including: interactive discussions, individual/group exercises, lectures, guest lecturers, Power-Point, videos, and reference materials. |
| View Available Training Topics. |
| Voter Education and Outreach |
| Civic engagement is a powerful part of developing and implementing policies that create housing opportunities. The Kennedy Commission believes in providing the tools and resources needed for voters to be informed on current legislation that impacts their communities. |
| View Proposed Legislation. |
| For more information, please contact Roseanne Kotzer, MSW, ACSW. |
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