Episcopal Church Wants to Bring Generosity Home

Over the years, parishioners have given the Episcopal Church much more than their Sunday morning tithes and offerings.

Their generosity has transformed the church into a landowner -- a position the church is now reexamining as it seeks ways to help Southern Californians in need of housing.

“People have been very wonderful to the church in giving it land and helping them build churches, and the church needs to give back to the community,” said the Right Rev. J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

Last month the diocese and the Institute for Urban Research and Development launched the Episcopal Housing Alliance in an effort to address Southern California’s housing crisis.

The Episcopal Housing Alliance will support a range of housing including emergency shelters, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing and affordable housing.

The alliance has also created a housing trust fund -- it now stands at $6 million -- that will be used to build or support more housing. The fund also includes a $1-million gift from the bishop’s fund that will be used to survey the diocese’s land and property to determine if any would be suitable for housing.

“It’s really important that housing become a primary issue for the church because, without a cooperative effort by the church, private sector and government sector, housing will dwindle to the point where we don’t have room for people who are poor or middle-income,” Bruno said. “We’re interested in doing everything from street outreach all the way to affordable housing. That’s the only thing that’s going to solve the terrible problem we have.”

The Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese stretches from Santa Maria in the north down to San Clemente, an area that covers 5 1/2 counties. The church owns 147 churches, 40 schools, 18 institutions, and land -- large empty tracts, parks and garden areas. The church might consider turning the land gifts it has received into housing.

The initiative is a collaboration involving the diocese, government and the private sector. The church’s increased involvement in housing is an outgrowth of the state’s need and President Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative, which calls for more involvement from churches in addressing the nation’s problems.

“The current administration is very clear that the faith community is an underused resource,” said Joe Colletti of the Urban Institute for Research and Development, who is also an adjunct faculty member at Fuller Theological Seminary. “We’re answering the call.”

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has conducted workshops over the last six months to inform groups of fund availability and encourage their participation.

“HUD wants to assure faith-based groups that they are not just welcome, but they are invited to be a part of these programs,” said Larry Bush, a HUD spokesman.

Many churches and other faith-based groups in Southern California have already done so, offering a range of housing from shelters for the homeless to apartments for seniors. California has a “very strong tradition” of faith-based groups, the HUD spokesman said. “Some of the most experienced faith-based groups in America are located in California.”

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles is a part of that tradition. It already offers some housing in Southern California, such as St. John’s Manor in Costa Mesa, with 36 apartment units, and Casa de Los Amigos in Redondo Beach, with 136. Both provide affordable housing for seniors.

Through partnerships with other nonprofits or local cities, the diocese helps support shelters and other forms of housing in El Monte, Glendale, Long Beach, Pasadena, Pacoima and Los Angeles.

The Rev. Robert W. Cornner, of Christ Episcopal Church, has seen the benefits of affordable housing for the seniors who live at Casa de Los Amigos.

“You run into medical problems when you thought you were very independent. Then you realize you aren’t. You can get financially washed down the toilet pretty quickly,” he said.

John Simpson, a Korean War veteran, was working, living in a house provided by his job and fully supporting himself -- until he had a stroke in 1995. “In a matter of moments I became paralyzed, unemployed and homeless,” Simpson said.

After a long rehabilitation and time spent in veterans facilities, Simpson received an apartment in Casa de Los Amigos, where he has lived for seven years. He also receives help from Section 8, a federal housing program that subsidizes rent.

“It’s a great place to live,” Simpson said. “The area is great. I get my wheelchair and I can go all over the place: the bank, the post office, down to the pier. I have a bunch of friends.... I can’t imagine what it would be like to live in another area that doesn’t have as many things to offer as this does.”

The former actor and film editor has helped organize a theater group that attends local plays. He is also active in the local church. From what Cornner has seen, the need for seniors’ housing is only growing, which makes those gifts of land to the diocese all the more promising.

“I think we’re going to be in some serious trouble with our seniors, and I’m going to be one of them,” Cornner said.