A little love goes a long way, as Families Forward partners on housing projects
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A little bit of sweat equity will go a long way for three Families Forward affordable housing properties.
The Irvine-based nonprofit held a coordinated day of service with Easy Street Capital lending company on March 26, adding small but important touches to two Families Forward properties in Irvine and one in Costa Mesa’s east side.
Twenty-nine volunteers from Easy Street Capital spent the afternoon planting a community garden at one Irvine property, and building out an after-school environment with STEM stations, art areas and reading corners for children at another.
In Costa Mesa, tasks included refreshing the community grounds with painting, repairs and family-friendly elements like hopscotch.
“It makes a big difference, to keep the dignity of the property, to make sure that these families have a safe and inviting place to call home,” Families Forward chief executive Madelynn Hirneise said. “But also, as an organization, we want to be very effective with our resources. These types of partnerships allow for us to do the beautification projects that maybe [are] ‘We’ll do that later, right now we’ve got to focus on the water heater because that’s more essential.’”
Easy Street Capital originated in Texas but opened its Orange County office in Irvine in 2019. The partnership with Families Forward began with a charity pickleball tournament, said Kara Manier, director of philanthropy and events for Easy Street Capital.
Last year, the conversation focused more on how to serve and fill needs that the nonprofit had.
“That’s how we kind of came across these renovation projects,” Manier said. “They align really well with the work that Easy Street does, so we were happy to jump on board … I like to think that even if it’s as simple as painting sidewalks or repairing a fence, I think it brings a little bit of dignity and homeyness and self to these properties that they’re staying at.”
Scott Townes, a partner at the lending company, agreed.
“We’re local to the community — we live here, we work here, our kids go to school here,” he said. “So, it’s wonderful to be able to give back. If everybody on the team can contribute a little bit, it goes a long way to really bettering the lives of our neighbors. We feel good about being able to do that.”
Families Forward owns 59 affordable housing units across the county, including eight-plexes, four-plexes and scattered site condominiums, according to Hirneise.
Though Families Forward obviously wants the income-qualified units to feel like home, Hirneise said families stay at them for an average of 3.7 years, which is well under national averages for affordable housing.
She said wraparound services are focused on economic mobility — increasing income, credit score and savings while decreasing debt.
“We want families to celebrate what it would look like to over-income qualify and make too much money, not fear that,” she said. “We really try to create as much incentive, and remove barriers, to help families realize that this is a lily pad opportunity. What’s next for you, and let’s work toward that together.”
