Our Mission

Project Access assists low-income families and seniors in affordable housing to achieve self-sufficiency through access to onsite services in education, health and social services.
    

   
“Site Spotlight”—Tara Village

The Family Resource Center at Tara Village in Cypress recently underwent a major renovation. Its space was more than doubled, allowing Project Access to increase the center size from 800 square feet to 1,800 square feet to include a kitchen, computer lab, reading area, a pre-kindergarten/ school readiness room, and an area for Healthy Families (health insurance for children) sign-ups.

The grand opening of the new space was a huge success! In all corners of the room there were children reading with parents, adults signing up for Healthy Families in order to get low-cost healthcare, and everyone checking out the new kitchen and computer lab. Shin-Ae, the Family Resource Center Service Coordinator, and her staff were taking sign-ups for English learning classes and were explaining the education classes to parents.

The expanded space allows Project Access to better reach out to and accommodate the residents of this 170 unit complex. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the expansion of the Family Resource Center at Tara Village!

Spirit of Volunteerism Award Project Access honored Wendy Weeks at the Volunteer Center Orange County’s 30th Annual Spirit of Volunteerism Awards Luncheon, at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine, April 27, 2006. Wendy is a member of PATRONS for Project Access Auxiliary Member. Wendy is an avid community volunteer who puts her heart into everything she does. Wendy is responsible for helping Project Access secure funding from local community-based funders and corporations, as well as provides leadership in organizing successful fundraising events. Thank you Wendy for your commitment to making our community a better place to live!

Resident Highlight Jose is a five-year old resident of one of the affordable housing apartment communities Project Access serves in Orange County. When Jose first came to the Family Resource Center, he had a very limited ability to speak and understand English. He was barely able to recognize and name the alphabet or count to ten. He had very little social awareness; he would only play by himself and would not participate appropriately in group activities like singing or playing games. Developmentally, his motor skills were slow. Jose began to participate in the Project Access School Readiness Program, and since September, we have seen significant improvements in his English speaking skills, he more effectively expresses his thoughts, and can sound out most of the alphabet. Jose is reading simple words, recognizes numbers up to ten, can write his name, and can cut out simple shapes. Jose shows signs of adapting to new and changing situations more successfully, and he is excited to participate with the other children. Academically, physically, and socially, Jose is now prepared to enter kindergarten this coming fall! This is just one of the success stories Project Access can share with you. Great job, Jose.

Community Support

• Thank you to the Sisters of St. Joseph Healthcare Foundation for the $25,000 grant to fund Project Access’ Health Program which connects our residents to low-cost health care, provides access to application assistance for health insurance, nutrition training, and more.

• State Farm Insurance donated $2,000 to help the Project Access residents receive financial literacy, computer, and English language classes. Thank you State Farm Insurance for your support!
  
  

• Thank you Union Bank of California for granting Project Access $5,000 for our Adult Capacity Building Program. The goal of this program is to help our adult residents strengthen their capacity to provide for their families, and ultimately to improve their economic self-sufficiency.
  
  

• Project Access received $8,000 from the Newport Harbor Chapter of ZONTA to fund the Family Resource Center at Park Vista’s health program, as well as support its annual health fair to benefit low-income families. Thank you to the ZONTA members for their continued generosity and for donating the time to helping us organize this year’s annual health fair for the second year in a row!
  
  

• Thank you to the Building Blocks Foundation Fund for your generous $25,000 grant for Project Access’ After-School Program! This generous gift will go a long way as we continue to grow and improve the after-school program activities that are delivered year-round.

• Thank you to the Irvine Health Foundation for giving $15,000 to the Project Access Health Program. This grant is improving the immediate health and long-term wellness of the underserved, low-income, ethnically-diverse clients living in the affordable housing communities that we serve. Thank you for your support!
  
  

• The Draper Family Foundation, once again, showed their support of Project Access’ After-School Program with a $25,000 grant! Thank you Draper Family Foundation for believing in this very worthy cause of helping low-income children receive a leg up in performing well at school and ultimately in life.

• Wells Fargo Foundation granted $7,500 to Project Access in support of our Health Program. These funds will be used to bring health needs assessments and collaborative health service delivery and education to the resident of eight affordable housing communities throughout Orange County. Thank you Wells Fargo Foundation!
  
  

• Thank you to everyone at AmeriQuest for selecting Project Access as a recipient of the Create Your Legacy Grant for $15,000. These funds will help us to expand a small Family Resource Center in Anaheim and allow us to serve more very low-income working families. AmeriQuest staff have been incredible volunteers with Project Access and we look forward to a continued partnership.
  
  

Keeping Kids on Track

Project Access thanks the Orange County’s United Way “Keeping Kids on Track” Initiative for its generous grant of $20,000 from the Keeping Kids Online Fund to support the rehabilitation of eight computer labs utilized by many low-income children served at Project Access Family Resource Centers. In addition, Project Access was able to purchase new hardware and software, update its parental controls software, contract with an independent consulting firm to help maintain and trouble-shoot computer lab problems, and keep our software licenses up-to-date.

Because of this exceptional grant award, all of our computer labs are now running smoothly, and the youth benefit each day utilizing the computers for homework, research, email, and educational computer games. Thank you, United Way!

2006 Community Building Awards

We are excited to announce that the Project Access Family Resource Center at Warwick Square received the Nonprofit Housing Project/Developer of the Year Award, a Santa Ana Community Building Award.  The Nonprofit Housing Project/Developer of the Year Award is intended to recognize innovative design, financing, management or social services associated with affordable housing projects serving the Santa Ana community.  In general, the Community Building Awards are an opportunity for Santa Ana’s Resource Network to recognize those individuals or organizations that create a positive environment for its residents, increase productivity, and make the City of Santa Ana a great place to live, work and play.  Congratulations to the Project Access Family Resource Center at Warwick Square for making a difference in so many people’s lives!

Board News

Please join us in welcoming two new members of the Project Access Board of Directors!

		Ana Marie del Rio is the Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of Steadfast Companies. She works closely with Steadfast Management Company and the Compliance Department in the management and operation of the company’s affordable residential units, and is active in statewide affordable housing issues. Ms. Del Rio was a Public Finance Partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP, where she represented both issuers and underwriters in financing single-family and multi-family housing and other types of conduit and redevelopment projects. Before practicing law, Ms. del Rio owned and operated a campaign consulting and research company, specializing in local campaigns and ballot measures. She makes a great addition to the Project Access Board of Directors as she understands both the technical and the fund development sides of the organization.
		James R. Wakefield, P.C. is a partner with Cummins & White, LLP. Mr. Wakefield’s practice focuses on casualty defense, transportation, commercial and real estate litigation, and all aspects of construction litigation. Mr. Wakefield is a member of the State Bar of California. He is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Mr. Wakefield is a member of the California State Bar Association’s Business Law and Intellectual Property Sections, the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel and the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel. He enjoys Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory’s highest “AV” rating for lawyers. Jim’s legal expertise and keen eye for establishing best practices in an organization’s operations are vitally important as Project Access continues to grow.

HUD Tour Faith-based and community liaisons from each of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 81 field offices throughout the country gathered in Los Angeles to attend a series of workshops. The purpose of the training was to provide resources to the HUD liaisons to work more effectively with local government, private business, and faith and community-based organizations in their roles as community leaders. As part of the training, these liaisons were invited to visit two HUD-funded projects. Golden West Tower senior apartments in Torrance was chosen as one of these host model sites because of the complicated financing of the recently purchased building, the tremendous rehabilitation that it underwent including a seismic retrofit to get the building up to par with current building codes, as well as the commitment to the residents in providing a sense of community with the design of the space which includes a community garden, general community space, pool room, and Senior Resource Center in which Project Access offers full-time services to its residents.