Quake Assistance Groups Win Grants

Two groups that assist residents who were left homeless or suffered damage in the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake were among 19 Southern California recipients of $3.9 million in grants from a regional bank in San Francisco, bank officials said.

The Habitat for Humanity, an organization founded by former President Jimmy Carter, received a $120,000 award to continue its work on projects in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys as well as in Ventura County, said Nan Joesten, manager of the organization’s earthquake recovery program.

There are four projects under way in the San Fernando Valley, and about 40 still pending. Six Valley projects have been completed, she said.

The Los Angeles Family Housing Corp., which provides emergency, transitional and permanent housing, received $79,651 to help finance construction of an 18-unit two- and three-story apartment building in the 7400 block of Vineland Avenue in Sun Valley, said Vera Fleischman, the director of the housing division.

The total cost of the project is about $2.5 million, Fleischman said.

The National Equity Fund has accepted tax credits as equity for the project, and the city of Los Angeles Housing Department provided $50,000 per unit, or about $900,000 for the construction project, she said.

The units will be available to residents whose annual income falls between 35% and 50% of the average national income, as set by the federal Housing and Urban Development agency, Fleischman said.

The grants were awarded by the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, which awarded a total of $7.9 million to 34 affordable housing projects in California, Florida, Illinois and Nevada.