Sango Court in Milpitas Welcomes Residents!
Sango Court in Milpitas recently welcomed its first 35 residents. Continuing RCD’s expansion into the South Bay, Sango Court provides 102 new rental homes ranging from studios to three bedrooms, with half of the homes dedicated to households transitioning out of homelessness. Located within half a mile of the Milpitas BART station, Sango Court has revitalized an industrial site into a permanently affordable community. The transit-oriented development has ample on-site supportive services and property management and includes a community room with a full kitchen and multiple landscaped courtyards. The all-electric building incorporates green construction methods and renewable technologies such as rooftop solar panels, energy efficient appliances and materials, and drought-tolerant landscaping.
An early success of Sango Court has been our close partnerships with the County of Santa Clara Office of Supportive Housing and our service partner, Abode Services. These partnerships extend to our other Santa Clara County developments: Quetzal Gardens and the Bella Vista Inn.
The A link to: Bella Vista Inn is a successful A link to: Homekey project which involved converting a former motel into temporary, supportive housing for folks transitioning out of homelessness. We are thrilled that several former Bella Vista Inn residents are now moving into Sango Court after a period of stabilization and direct supportive services. With this multi-pronged partnership, we are able to help residents successfully transition from homelessness into permanent supportive housing.
This September, we celebrated all that we’ve achieved over the past 12 months with our supporters and partners at our annual fundraiser, Sparking Connections: In Bloom!
We were pleased to honor three of our our service partners that provide essential case management and supportive services to our residents. We’re very fortunate to partner with Abode Services, Hope Solutions, and LifeLong Medical Care to help support our residents, especially those who may need extra supportive services. We know that so many of our residents’ lives have been impacted and touched by these organizations and we thank them for their many years of partnership!
We also celebrated our 2023 Irwin Mussen Scholars. Nine RCD residents pursuing higher education received scholarships to support their studies at a variety of colleges and universities, including Stanford, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz and more! In total, we distributed $29,500 in educational scholarships.
We would also like to thank all the supporters who helped make this event possible! In particular, we’d like to thank our title sponsor U.S. Bank, our presenting sponsor, Nibbi Brothers General Contractors, and our ground breaking sponsors, Cahill Contractors, James E. Roberts-Obayashi Corp. and J.H. Fitzmaurice, Inc.
RCD Spotlight: meet Ana Rasquiza, our new director of Community Development
Welcome Ana Rasquiza, RCD’s new Director of Community Development! Ana is joining RCD from First 5 Alameda and continuing her career focused on advancing equity in communities. We are thrilled to have her at RCD and excited about the next phase of our community development work under her leadership.
What were you doing before you joined RCD? What brought you here?
I’ve spent twenty years working at the intersection of community and local government, always with a focus on advancing equity. I’m passionate about systems change, community voice and care, public budgets, and data driven decision-making, including numbers as well as stories, images, observations, feelings, and narrative. A lot of my career has focused on early care and education as a strategy to advance equity in communities – a field with striking similarities to housing! Most recently, I led the policy, advocacy, and data work at First 5 Alameda.
What are you most excited about for what’s coming up from the Community Development team?
I’m so excited about our work in Unincorporated Alameda County; it is what drew me to the position! I grew up in a low-income, unincorporated community where we felt left out and looked down upon. My first experiences with policy and local government were in high school when I was involved with my community’s campaign to incorporate and become a city. That proximity to the establishment of a new city sparked an excitement about local government that has always been core to my career. In many ways, I feel like I’m coming full circle with this work.
What’s a fun fact about you?
My wife and I are moms to two rough and tumble little girls. They’re bruisers – real Xena Warrior Princess Energy in our home! Ours is an archery, kung fu, swords at the tea party kind of household. I love it!
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