Cooperative housing planned for Costa Mesa

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- Armed with a $76,000 grant, a Costa Mesa-based nonprofit

organization is ready to move forward with a plan to counter the limited

availability of affordable housing in the county.

The plan by Project Independence calls for member-run cooperative

housing for senior citizens with developmental disabilities and for

developmentally disabled people with parents who are senior citizens,

said Andrea Erickson, executive director of the nonprofit.

“We want to build a bridge between people living with family and being

on their own,” she said. “If you’ve lived at home all your life and are

59 years old, contemplating living without your parents would be a big

adjustment. For people who are developmentally disabled who have lived in

their own homes all their lives, going to a nursing home or other

facility because their parents are too old to take care of them just

doesn’t really seem like an option, either. Everyone wants to be in their

own place.”

Project Independence currently has several housing programs for

developmentally disabled people throughout the county and serves more

than 80 people in Costa Mesa.

Despite Costa Mesa’s recent crackdown on group homes, Sandi Benson,

chief of code enforcement, said the city expects no problems with

cooperative housing as long as no more than six people live in one house.

However, Benson said the nonprofit group should check with code

enforcement first to avoid getting tangled in city codes.

“Project Independence has always been a very good, well-run program,”

said City Councilman Joe Erickson, who suggested that the nonprofit

consider converting rundown, older motels into single-room housing for

seniors. “More money would be needed to do that, but I think it’s

something to look into.”

The nonprofit is trying to start new programs for seniors so it is

able to continue serving its residents, Andrea Erickson said.

The grant money, awarded by the California State Council on

Developmental Disabilities, will pay salaries for one full-time and one

part-time employee, who will help set up the co-ops.

The type of housing that will be set up will depend on the desires of

the residents, she said.

“We’re not going to be a leasing program, choosing who lives there or

how it will be set up,” she said. “We’re going to be setting up living

situations for people by bringing them together and helping them find the

services they need. They will be deciding where they want to live and

their names will be on the lease, or if they are buying, on the

mortgage.”

One option would include renting apartments, but Andrea Erickson said

she anticipates most residents will want to be in their own home.

Most people will probably lease a home with several other people and,

if it’s successful, discuss buying a home together, she said.