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February 5, 2019 <br />Mayor Pulido and City Councilmembers <br />City of Santa Ana <br />20 Civic Center Plaza <br />P.O. Bo 1988, M31 <br />Santa Ana,CA 92701 <br />RE: Support 80A: Santa Ana United Methodist Church project <br />Dear Mayor and Councilmembers, <br />Vecindario Lacy en Accion (VeLA) is a group of residents from the Lacy neighborhood that <br />have united to advocate for their community. The group includes: mothers, fathers, students, <br />individuals with special abilities and community leaders that share the vision of improving the <br />quality of life in their neighborhood and the city of Santa Ana. All with the purpose of creating <br />more opportunities for families to succeed. We request that you support the Santa Ana <br />United Methodist Church project. This project will benefit our neighborhood and the City <br />of Santa Ana as a whole by providing dignified and affordable housing. <br />Community engagement has been a cornerstone of this project. National Core and Santa Ana <br />United Methodist Church engaged with Vecindario Lacy en Accion (VeLA), a grass-roots <br />community group of Santa Ana residents who live in the Legacy Square project neighborhood, <br />who has organized to improve the quality and availability of affordable housing in the area. <br />Over the past few months, the Development team has facilitated discussions and provided <br />opportunities to learn about Legacy Square at our regularly scheduled VeLA meetings and has <br />used feedback to influence the development of the Project. Specifically, VeLA advocated for <br />additional and deeper affordability for the housing units in the project to better meet the needs of <br />the families that are struggling to stay in Santa Ana. The community engagement events held <br />for the Project have allowed the design to evolve into an entirely affordable project, with <br />additional 2- and 3 -units for low-income families as well as mobility and transit <br />improvements that will help students travel safely to school. Community residents have <br />also agreed to advise the Development team to establish a Marketing Plan that will provide <br />priority placement to local, low-income Santa Ana residents at Legacy Square. <br />National CORE and Santa Ana United Methodist Church have engaged with community <br />residents from the initiation of this project to ensure the development will serve as an asset to the <br />community. This development will fold into this community beautifully. The Lacy <br />