On Aug. 27, California Assemblyman Tom Lackey was in Palmdale, Calif., to present a check for $2.7 million to Homes 4 Families.
The check was presented to Homes 4 Families’ President and CEO Donna Deutchman, Board Chair Brad Rosenheim, and Board Members William Hawfield, Linda Katz, Eric Steinhauer, and Deanna Austin. Also in attendance to show their support was City of Palmdale Director of Neighborhood Services Mike Miller.
“My primary job as a state legislator is to deliver state funding for critical High Desert projects,” said Lackey. “Results matter. I am proud to partner with CalVet and the City of Palmdale to secure $2.7 million to complete the construction of homes for our veterans.”
The ceremony kicked off a TEAMBuild day where volunteers from Kaiser Permanente, Princess Cruises, and Sentry Residential, alongside veterans who will be living in the community, worked on site to frame the next phase of homes.
The $2.7 million will go towards the 56-home veteran community currently being built by the non-profit in Palmdale. These funds will offset many of the cost increases caused by COVID-related shutdowns, supply chain issues, and inflation.
Despite all of the setbacks that COVID-19 presented to Homes 4 Families, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit continued to build and were able to complete the first 16 homes of the community in 2021 and move 16 deserving military families into the community.
With this support, they are on track to complete the next six homes this year and the remaining 34 in phases through 2025.
“This funding will be an enormous leap forward in our ability to provide these homes to deserving veterans in need of stable housing and services,” said Deutchman. “We are so happy to be building these houses in the city of Palmdale, where veterans are truly honored and other wonderful services already exist. Leaders like Tom Lackey and the Palmdale city council have created an ideal home here for our veterans.”
This affordable homeownership project will serve 56 military families who earn between 40-80 percent Area Median Income. More than 80 percent of the veterans in this project are BIPOC, and represent above-average numbers of disabled, female, and LGBTQ veterans. All military family members will also receive services such as financial literacy training, homebuyer education, and trauma-informed care. The homeownership program is currently open and accepting applications from qualified low-income veterans.
Lackey’s contribution represents a major portion of this project’s approximately $23 million total cost. This neighborhood is being built in partnership with The California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet), and the City of Palmdale and its Housing Authority; major contributors include California Department of Housing and Community Development and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, as well as numerous Foundation and Corporate partners including The Ahmanson Foundation, Wells Fargo, Citibank, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, High Desert Medical Group, Lou and Joyce Gonzales, and others.
Homes 4 Families relies on individual volunteers and corporate volunteer groups to build homes. Those interested in sponsoring and/or attending the upcoming Rainbow Build can visit https://homes4families.org/rainbow-build-2022/. This is a community build that will be held Sept. 17, 2022 at 9 a.m. on the Palmdale Veteran Enriched Neighborhood site. The Palmdale Veteran Enriched Neighborhood is located at 38043 Division Street in Palmdale.