Amenity-rich senior community latest affordable housing built and managed by Cesar Chavez Foundation
A new three-story 49-unit state-of-the-art housing community for low- and very low-income seniors at 1655 East California Ave. in Bakersfield, the latest affordable housing project built and managed by the Cesar Chavez Foundation, is being dedicated on Friday at 3 p.m. Named Casa de Eva for Eva Camacho, a longtime political and community activists with close ties to Cesar Chavez’s farm worker movement who died last year, it sits on 2.14 acres adjacent to a 150-unit multi-family apartment complex also built and managed by the Chavez foundation.
Dedication speakers include County Supervisor Leticia Perez, Assemblymember Rudy Salas, Chavez foundation President Paul F. Chavez, United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodriguez and Marcos Camacho, a Bakersfield attorney and husband of Eva Camacho. A tour of the facility will immediately follow the program.
Residents will pay rent equivalent to no more than 30 percent of their income, making Casa de Eva very affordable. There are 48 one-bedroom units plus a two-bedroom unit for resident management staff. All units are amenity intensive, including the latest kitchen appliances and central heat and air. All units also have devices residents can use to quickly summon emergency services.
The third floor boasts a quiet library room and an open lounge with seating and television. Another library that can host aerobics, yoga and exercise classes plus an open room with a pool table and lounge area are on the second floor. The first floor boasts a laundry room and large community room with a fully equipped kitchen where people can congregate and hold gatherings, all opening onto a patio with outdoor seating.
The Spirit, Mind and Body Program that operates in most Chavez foundation senior communities will provide an array of services, including classes on health, nutrition, fitness, arts and crafts as well as social events, book clubs, educational trips, holiday festivities and much more.
Construction began in October 2011, and was completed in December 2012. This is one of more than 30 affordable housing communities with more than 4,300 units in four states built or renovated and managed by the Chavez foundation. The Chavez foundation also operates Radio Campesina, a nine-station educational Spanish-language radio network with 500,000 daily listeners in four states, runs after-school academic tutoring programs for needy students in California and Arizona school districts, and with the National Park Service runs the National Chavez Center at Keene with a Visitor Center, Memorial Garden and educational center on 187 acres in the Tehachapi Mountains that is also home to the new Cesar E. Chavez National Monument dedicated by President Obama there on Oct. 8.
Who: Cesar Chavez Foundation President Paul Chavez, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, County Supervisor Leticia Perez, Assemblymember Rudy Salas, Bakersfield attorney Marcos Camacho and some soon-to-be residents.
What: Dedication of Casa de Eva, a state-of-the-art 49-unit affordable housing community for low-income seniors built and managed by the Chavez foundation.
When: 3 p.m., Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 program; tour immediately following.
Where: Casa de Eva, 1655 East California Ave., Bakersfield 93307.