It’s been a rough few years for Thomas De la Cruz. Three years ago, his battle with substance abuse almost killed him. Serious medical problems related to his addiction put him in the hospital for months.
The 52-year-old man survived, but he lost his home in the process.
"I just found myself couch surfing, and just trying to survive," said De la Cruz. He finally reached out for help.
De la Cruz is now healthy again, and working. Today, though he’s filled with emotion. For the first time in years, he’s going to have his own home.
We’re walking with him through the Central Terrace Apartments, a brand new, $47 million affordable housing complex in downtown Oxnard.
"I think it's beautiful. It's way more than I expected," said de la Cruz.
It’s a gleaming new five story building built on a half acre of land off of Sixth Street in Oxnard. It has 87 one-bedroom apartments, a community room, a central courtyard, and more.
Rick Schroeder is President of Many Mansions. The Ventura County based non-profit has built 20 affordable housing complexes in the region over the years, and has 11 more in construction or development.
"Of the 87 units, 35 are reserved for individuals who are currently experiencing homelessness," said Schroeder.
The others are going to low income residents, who will pay about $1500 a month, depending on their ability to pay.
The new Oxnard project is the latest in the organization’s efforts to chip away at the ongoing housing crisis. It took five years, and a lot of work piecing together grants and loans to build the apartment complex.
Oxnard Mayor John Zaragoza says projects like this are key to solving what’s been a decades old problem for the region.
"Central terrace is an opportunity to get affordable housing for the underserved community, and they're also going to help with the homeless community," said the Mayor. "We need to continue to provide affordable housing. Ventura County is one of the expensive counties in California."
Schroeder says the region’s need for more affordable housing is huge.
"We had over 800 applicants for this building," said the many Mansions executive. "We have a waiting list overall of more than 3000 households. We could do five or six, or maybe even ten of these buildings, and fill them up."
Schroeder says they’ve exercised an option to buy an empty lot next to the new Central Terrace complex. If they can line up the funding, they’ll build a second, similar 80 plus apartment building.
While some are still hoping for their affordable housing dream to happen, Thomas De la Cruz is one of the lucky ones. He’ll move into his new apartment in a few days.
"It's hard to put into words. It means security. It means the world to me, funding myself again, having my sanctuary, being part of a community," said De la Cruz.
De la Cruz says getting off the streets, and into a home as a turning point in his life. He wants to go back to college, and become a counselor helping those battling substance abuse.
