Low-Income Apartments High on Children’s Needs : Housing: Academy Hall, a $4-million public-private project in Central Los Angeles, also features day care, tutoring, and workshops on parenting and drug-abuse prevention.
When Maceola Wakefield first saw the Academy Hall apartments, she was impressed. The building was clean and secure, and no one was loitering out in front.
When she moved in, it lived up to her expectations as just the place to raise her 6-year-old daughter.
“I feel good about having company over,” Wakefield, 28, said one morning sitting in the dining area of her new two-bedroom apartment. “I feel like I’ve moved up.”
The 46-unit building at 12010 S. Vermont Ave., which held its grand opening last week, is a project of the Educational Excellence for Children with Environmental Limitations, or EEXCEL program.
In addition to providing amenities such as an indoor parking garage, a laundry room and prompt repair service, the low-income residence also features free day care, after-school tutoring, computer instruction, social service referrals and workshops on career improvement, parenting, nutrition and drug-abuse prevention.
“Unlike many government programs, this place is geared for children at home,” said Julie Barber, 25, a resident counselor.
EEXCEL was conceived by Kent Salveson, an Orange County-based housing developer who financed the $4-million Academy Hall building through a public-private partnership. The Century Freeway Housing Program provided $2.3 million in long-term, low-interest loans for the project, with Salveson and his partner, Dan Hunter, using their own money and that of other private investors to come up with the balance.
The Century Freeway Housing Program will fund construction of 5,000 affordable-housing units in South, Southeast and South-Central Los Angeles to replace 7,000 units that have been demolished to make way for the freeway, said Charlene Howlett, project director. With an additional $12 million from the freeway housing program, Hunter and Salveson plan to build four more EEXCEL apartment buildings in Huntington Park, South, South-Central and Downtown.
Formerly a corporate lawyer, Salveson said he had an awakening of sorts while doing maintenance on a building he owned in Atwater. During a conversation with a single mother of five, Salveson asked how she was able to work two jobs and raise her children.
The woman replied that she wanted her children “to have more than I did--a better education to do the things I wasn’t able to do,” according to Salveson.
“It was then that I realized the difference between people who had an education and people who don’t,” Salveson said.
Salveson, a USC graduate, then enlisted the help of his alma mater to create educational support for the program. Both resident counselors are graduate students at USC’s School of Education. Several USC professors have volunteered to help design the study program, and the school’s Upward Bound program will provide after-school tutors.
USC is also working on a plan to offer full scholarships to teen-age apartment residents who graduate from high school with at least a B average.
“This is an ideal way to see theory and policy come together,” said Toni Acevedo, 24, also a resident counselor. “This support will offer the children services and attention that their parents don’t always have time to give them because they are working hard to make ends meet.”
Acevedo, a third-year doctoral student at USC, said she will use her experiences as a resident counselor to build better urban policies.
“If we can help kids in Los Angeles, that will make an impact on kids all over the country,” she said.
Wakefield, a part-time housekeeper, said the emphasis on education has made Academy Hall the perfect place to raise her daughter, Shanekiah. “Even though she’s in the first grade, there are certain things I can’t explain,” Wakefield said. “I’m glad that someone will be here to help her do things correctly. She’ll appreciate school more.”
To support the program, Wakefield and other residents agreed to help by working as playground and study room monitors, said Charles Kendrick, the building manager. In exchange for their services, the tenants receive a monthly $140 rent reduction.
“Having better role models starts at home. That way the children develop respect and a sense of responsibility because they see that their parents care. And that builds stronger family bonds,” Kendrick said. “If parents don’t get involved, it wouldn’t matter what we do.”
Prices for the one- and two-bedroom units range from $400 to $725, and residents pay no more than a third of their income in rent, Kendrick said. Half of the 46 units are occupied, adding that he is seeking more tenants.
Applying for an EEXCEL apartment includes three interviews, a credit check, income verification and a review of children’s grades and attendance records. “We want to make sure they are interested in school,” Acevedo said.
Though the application process is longer than usual, many tenants hailed the program as a good way to help children do better in school.
“I think with so many people willing to give them help,” said building resident Tonica Brock, “these kids will be determined to succeed.”
