New Economics for Women (NEW) gathered the community and local dignitaries to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Tierra Del Sol, its centralized hub in Canoga Park that includes housing, a school, a community center and access to additional human needs services.
The nonprofit calls the hub, built in 2005, its flagship development. Once a vacant five-acre lot, it encompasses 119 units for individuals and families – even boasting the first five-bedroom apartments in the nation – and NEW Academy Canoga Park (NACP), an elementary charter school.
Also included is the Dennis P. Zine Community Center, which connects thousands of community members to a variety of services, like financial coaching, legal aid, workforce development, childcare, mental health services and tax preparation. Although located within the Tierra Del Sol development, both the school and community center are open to the public.
The cost of building both the school and housing units was about $50 million, with funding from grants and loans through various sources, including the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, LA County foundations and the community itself.
The celebration for its anniversary was held on Sept. 27, as local officials joined NEW executives and NACP staff in addressing the crowd of community members and Tierra Del Sol residents, including NEW CEO Leticia Andueza, founder and Board Chair Bea Stotzer and NACP Chief Academic Specialist Eric Todd.
Andueza told the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol that this development has been one of the nonprofit’s most successful efforts and is the manifestation of their vision of a holistic, thriving community. She recounted how the nonprofit had used numerous focus groups to understand exactly what the community needed and how NEW could help build pathways to prosperity.
“We co-designed this space with the community, with the actual residents,” Andueza said. “The resources and everything that lives within that entire campus is a reflection of what the families shared with us – their hopes and dreams, their needs, their opportunities.”
The design of the Tierra Del Sol, Andueza maintained – is made to ensure that residents and students don’t feel cramped within its borders. The school has a playground and a full-size gymnasium, and the development features a large courtyard for outdoor activities.
“I think sometimes people expect it to be cramped because … but overall it’s a big development … we want the space to be beautiful, spacious and welcoming,” Andueza said. “In terms of the housing, it’s structured in a way where the space just flows. … [The space] never looks busy and chaotic.”
She added that since Tierra Del Sol opened its doors, it has been home to more than 500 families. Even today, there is a long wait list of prospective tenants looking to move in. These are affordable housing options that families can live in as long as they want, provided that they meet the income requirements.
The requirements are based on the area median income (AMI), but each unit has various thresholds depending on the number of bedrooms it has – some could be set at 30% AMI, which is for very low-income families, while others are at 60%.
Although there is no time limit imposed on residents, Andueza said that they try to emphasize the importance of economic mobility and encourage them to take advantage of the resources available to improve their financial status.
“We certainly know that there are ways to really accelerate generational wealth,” Andueza said. “Building and buying a home is one; growing a business is another. But families also have their way of looking at things, and for some of them, it’s just having that affordability so that they can be stable and have secure and affordable housing for themselves and their families.”
When it comes to the NACP, Andueza said the idea came about after talking with families who said that their children were going to schools in their neighborhood that were overcrowded, not bilingual and did not provide what they felt was a good quality education.
NEW worked with the LA Unified School District, which confirmed there was a need for an elementary school that focused on science and the arts, to create the new school. Today, it serves approximately 450 students.
“This is one of the main reasons why we’re having this event. To help folks come into this campus, into this entire five-acre site and walk it, experience it, understand it and hear from some of the families that have lived there,” Andueza said. “It wasn’t necessarily designed to only meet the needs of residents. It [is] a community resource.”
To pick up an application to live at Tierra Del Sol, go to the site located at 7500 N Alabama Ave. For more information, visit https://neweconomicsforwomen.org/.