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A Ventura County community has an innovative solution to provide affordable housing for seniors

Rancho Sierra Senior Apartments in Camarillo will feature 50-units
Caroline Feraday
/
KCLU
Rancho Sierra Senior Apartments in Camarillo will feature 50-units

It’s an issue across the Tri-Counties.

Work started this week on the first modular development in Ventura County, Rancho Sierra Senior Apartments in Camarillo.

"Most of the apartments are built off-site, transported here and then put together," explained the President of Many Mansions, Rick Schroeder.

Many Mansions is the non-profit behind the affordable housing development specifically designed for seniors who have extremely low-income and homeless seniors with a mental disability. Schroeder says the modular homes speed up the construction timeline by as much as a third.

Work started this week on the first modular development in Ventura County
Caroline Feraday
/
KCLU
Work started this week on the first modular development in Ventura County
The County provided the land and will collaborate with mental health services for residents
Caroline feraday
/
KCLU
The County provided the land and will collaborate with mental health services for residents
They are designed for seniors who have low-income and homeless seniors with a mental disability
Caroline Feraday
/
KCLU
They are designed for seniors who have low-income and homeless seniors with a mental disability

"Seniors on fixed income do not have a lot of housing options. As a result they are our fastest growing homeless population," said Schroeder.

"This is the type of housing that's fitting into a growing need," he said.

The County provided the land and will collaborate with wrap-around mental health services to residents.

Caroline joined KCLU in October 2020. She won LA Press Club's Audio Journalist of the Year Award in 2022 and 2023.

Since joining the station she's won 7 Golden Mike Awards, 4 Los Angeles Press Club Awards and 2 National Arts & Entertainment Awards.

She started her broadcasting career in the UK, in both radio and television for BBC News, 95.8 Capital FM and Sky News and was awarded the Prince Philip Medal for her services to radio and journalism in 2007.

She has lived in California for ten years and is both an American and British citizen - and a very proud mom to her daughter, Elsie.