On Tuesday, October 11, Mercy Housing California (MHC) teamed up with the City of Norwalk, California in Los Angeles County to hold a groundbreaking ceremony at the future site of the Veterans Villas at San Antonio Drive. The Villas will be a four-story, 60-home, affordable residential apartment development with supportive services near the corner of San Antonio Drive and Foster Road. The development will provide much-needed affordable housing for veterans and their families.

“This is the first veteran housing project in the Gateway Cities region and the City of Norwalk is honored to do its part to curb veteran homelessness,” stated Mayor Rick Ramirez. “The City will continue to support veterans and the construction of this veteran housing project will help homeless veterans off the streets and get them much-needed help.”

While California still has a long road ahead in its goal to house all veterans, recent studies have shown good momentum in this direction. The 2022 Point in Time Count, which is the largest national study tracking rates of homelessness, revealed an 11% decrease in veterans experiencing homelessness over the last two years, continuing a good trajectory that has led to a 53% decrease since 2010.

“It’s fully within California’s reach to end veteran homelessness in our lifetime, and this kind of partnership shows exactly how we make it happen,” said Ed Holder, Vice President of Real Estate Development for Mercy Housing California. “We’re deeply grateful to the City of Norwalk for its tremendous commitment to supporting veterans in leading stable, dignified lives.”

Veterans Villas at San Antonio Drive is MHC’s eighth community built for veterans and their families and will serve extremely low, very low, and low-income households.

The property will be managed by Mercy Housing Management Group, and Mercy Housing’s resident services staff will provide long-term supportive services to all residents. The VA will provide case management to residents of the 18 Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) units at the property. Construction is expected to be completed in August 2024.