What’s now a dirt lot just off Lewis Road in Camarillo is going to be transformed into a housing complex that will be home to 88 homeless people.
"Permanent supportive housing really is that one intervention that can help those who truly need longer-term support," said Kimberlee Albers, director of Ventura County’s Homelessness Solutions. "They need affordability, as well as wraparound services likely for most of their life, because of a permanent disabling condition or another factor. This project is scaled at 88 permanent supportive housing units. That's 88 people living on our streets today that a year from now will be housed."
The $28 million project is being built on the 1700 block of South Lewis Road. It’s next to the Rancho Sierra Senior Apartments, a 49-unit complex for low-income and homeless seniors. It opened in March. An inpatient mental health facility will be built adjacent to the two complexes, creating a larger wellness campus.
An organization that has built, or currently has under construction, a half dozen homeless housing projects in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties is building the Lewis Road project.
"DignityMoves is a nonprofit focused specifically on building what we call interim supportive housing communities," explained the organization's founder and CEO, Elizabeth Funk.
She added that while most of their projects in the region are temporary and designed to get homeless people off the streets as soon as possible, this one will be permanent.
"This project is funded by the state's HomeKey program, which is extraordinary because it sets very aggressive deadlines to try to force cities and counties to do housing differently. This HomeKey project is going to have permanent supporting housing rooms for people who have been experiencing chronic homelessness, and it's also in partnership with the county's (Ventura County's) Behavioral Health Department, so it will be people who are suffering from behavioral health issues. People will receive intensive care."
What’s unusual about the project is how quickly it’s being built. It’s a dirt field today, but the plan is to have people living in the new homes by the end of 2027.
The housing units are being built using modular construction.
"Each unit is 200 square feet, and is made up of three of LifeArk's modules," said Charles Wee, the founder and main designer of the company building the modules, called LifeArk. "They are manufactured in our Madera facility, and those get transferred to our assembly factory in Monrovia," said Wee. "We're able to make a duplex unit (two studio apartments) in about four weeks."
A state grant is paying $23 million of the $28 million construction price tag. The City of Camarillo, the Gold Coast Health Plan, and Ventura County will pay the remaining $5 million. The state and county will kick in another $10 million for operations.
Ventura County-based nonprofit Many Mansions, which owns and operates a number of affordable housing complexes, will run the Lewis Road Project.
"There's a huge need," said Rick Schroeder, president and CEO of Many Mansions. "This is all going to be supportive housing. Eighty-eight units for individuals coming from homelessness, it's a large amount of housing."
Those who work on projects like this say they are much more invested than in doing a typical commercial housing project.
"What keeps us going through all those meetings is seeing these folks come to their new homes. It's not a structure, it's not a module, it's actually a home," said Jeff Spahr, Vice President of Construction for DignityMoves.
County officials note this project is by no means close to the end of the county’s homelessness problem. But, they say getting 88 more people off the streets and into permanent housing is another important step in the right direction.
