The Housing Authority of the County of San Joaquin celebrated two projects on Wednesday with an open house and a wall raising ceremony.
The open house was in celebration of the newly renovated Satellite Apartments. A wall raising ceremony also took place Wednesday, Sept. 9, for Grant Street Apartments at 535 N. Grant St., in Stockton. The apartment complex is currently under construction. When completed the two projects will be connected.
Satellite Apartments serve as transitional housing, while Grant Street Apartments will serve as permanent supportive housing. The projects were supported by San Joaquin County Housing Authority, city of Stockton and San Joaquin Behavioral Health.
"For individuals with behavioral health challenges and who have
specifically touched the justice system, our job is to help rebuild lives. Housing stability allows us to help with hope and dignity. It creates a foundation where recovery and independence can begin," said Genevieve Valentine, director of San Joaquin County Health Care Services Agency. "What makes me most proud of this partnership is that it doesn't end today with a simple celebration. It's actually the beginning of a housing continuum."
This property will offer transition and permanent supportive housing for county residents who are "struggling with behavioral health, but have also touched our justice system," Valentine said.
Satelite Apartments
Peter Ragsdale, Housing Authority of the County of San Joaquin executive director, said the Satellite Apartments were purchased through a bridge housing grant from the state's Department of Health Care Services.
"What's great is there's a mix of state, federal and local funding. This is what it takes to really get housing solutions, especially for disadvantaged members of our community," Ragsdale said. "We're just so happy that we can partner. We spent so much time worrying about what we're not doing. Here's a day to celebrate what we're really getting done."
Satellite Apartments is a transitional housing project. Renovations took about eight months to complete, county officials said.
The building has 31 units in total, with most units already leased, according to Ragsdale. There were tenants living in the apartments master leased to behavioral health.
Ragsdale said these units are for those with "a significant mental health challenge and disability."
Grant Street Apartments
A parking lot near Satellite Apartments is where Grant Street Apartments are being built. That project will be completed by next July.
Grant Street Apartments is a permanent supportive housing project, Valentine said.
When completed, the new apartments will have a total of 24 units. All tenant referrals will come through San Joaquin County Behavioral Health Services.
Sasha Jackson, deputy director for Housing for the Health at San Joaquin County Behavioral Health Services, said that they partnered with the University of Pacific to provide social supportive services.
"We just fully wrap that person around as we support them from coming from homelessness to transitional housing to permanent housing, which our overall goal is to get them to self-sufficiency," Jackson said.
At the end of the ceremony, before raising the wall, community leaders signed the wall that will later become part of Grant Street Apartments.
"Today is a true success of our shared vision, and we are working together with our hands, with our minds, and with our pocketbooks to show how we can make change and to make a big dent in San Joaquin County's behavioral health needs and homelessness," Valentine said. "Today, we celebrate accomplishments together and we are changing lives and is proof behind us."
Those in attendance included Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom of District 13, San Joaquin County Supervisor Mario Gardea of District 1, Councilmember Brando Villapudua of District 5, San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas, Adam Cheshire, district director for Rep. Josh Harder, Erika Cuevas, district representative for Senator Jerry McNerney, among many others.
"I'm really excited to represent a region where we are the demonstration for what is possible and what we can offer to people who need a hand up and to people who need hope and to what we can do when we make the proper investments and when we collaborate," Ransom said. "We're celebrating today, 31 units of safe, stable, transitional housing. Housing for people who've experienced homelessness and serious behavioral health challenges. We already know that getting someone off the street, even for one night, is important, but giving them a path forward is how we change lives."
Renovations for Satellite Apartments as well as construction of Grant Street Apartments is being done by Haggerty Construction, county officials said.
To learn more about these projects, visit the Housing Authority of the County of San Joaquin at hacsj.org.
Record reporter Angelaydet Rocha covers business and community news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at arocha@recordnet.com or on Twitter @AngelaydetRocha. To support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: New Stockton apartments offer transitional, supportive path to stability
