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February 5, 2019 Mayor Pulido and City Councilmembers City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza P.O. Bo 1988, M31 Santa Ana, CA 92701 RE: Support 75A: SANTA ANA UNITED METHODIST CHURCH PROJECT The Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities (SABHC) proudly supports the National Community Renaissance (National CORE) and Santa Ana United Methodist Church's affordable housing project, Legacy Square. Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities (SABHC) is committed to addressing health inequities and improving opportunities for a healthy, thriving Santa Ana. SABHC understands that health is directly shaped by the circumstances in which people are born, raised, live, and work. Improving these circumstances is a collective responsibility and one that must be led by those directly affected. Ranked among the top ten least affordable metropolitan areas in the country, Orange County is suffering from an affordable housing crisis. Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities (SABHC) supported the City of Santa Ana's Housing Opportunities Ordinance, which applies to residential developments that request discretionary approval and requires 15 percent of new homes to be affordable for low and very low-income households. As such, we support National CORE's Legacy Square project, which will include affordable housing and permanent supportive housing in the Lacy neighborhood. Community engagement has been a cornerstone of this project. National Core and Santa Ana United Methodist Church engaged with Vecindario Lacy en Accion (VeLA), a grass-roots community group of Santa Ana residents who live in the Legacy Square project neighborhood, who has organized to improve the quality and availability of affordable housing in the area. Over the past few months, the Development team has facilitated discussions and provided opportunities to learn about Legacy Square at regularly scheduled VeLA meetings and has used feedback to influence the development of the Project. Specifically, VeLA advocated for additional and deeper affordability for the housing units in the project to better meet the needs of the families that are struggling to stay in Santa Ana. The community engagement events held for the Project have allowed the design to evolve into an entirely affordable project, with additional 2- and 3 - units for low-income families as well as mobility and transit improvements that will help students travel safely to school. Community residents have also agreed to advise the Development team to establish a Marketing Plan that will provide priority placement to local, low-income Santa Ana residents at Legacy Square.