1st Enterprise Bank joined as the newest partner in the unprecedented collaboration to construct the country’s first service enriched Habitat for Heroes veteran village. Providing critically needed financing to move the project forward, 1st Enterprise Bank joins the California Department of Veteran Affairs (CalVet) who announced it has set aside more than $21 million for Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valley (Habitat SF/SCV) to build homes for California veterans and their families in the Santa Clarita and Sylmar areas of Los Angeles County.
Through this public-private collaboration, low-income veterans will now have a great opportunity to qualify to purchase beautiful three-and-four bedroom homes. The veteran will provide sweat equity to reduce the costs by helping to build these energy-efficient, affordable homes residences.
In addition to assistance in purchasing their own home, veterans will receive a variety of life-skill services for over 24 months before and after move-in. These services provide educational resources for the community members including training on money-management, home maintenance, and homework help for their children. Veteran-specific counseling programs and health care referrals are also part of the support that will be available to members of this community.
The project represents the strong partnership between CalVet, Habitat SF/SCV, and the chapter’s special program, Habitat for Heroes. Other sponsors include the Southern California Gas Company in partnership with KHTS AM 1220 Radio, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and local nonprofit organizations.
“We are very proud to have the opportunity to assist in bringing this unique and vital project to fruition for the benefit of our veterans residing in the Southern California area”, said John Black, CEO of 1st Enterprise Bank. “Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarity Valley has done a tremendous job in initiating and coordinating this effort and we look forward to seeing the benefits it will provide for years to come”.
“We are so grateful that our sponsors recognize the enormous need for housing for veterans” said Donna Deutchman, CEO of Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valley. “We are very pleased this collaboration will allow Sylmar and Santa Clarita to establish itself as a community for veterans.”
Deutchman, who sits on the Governor’s Interagency Council on Veterans, has been working with the council’s subcommittee on veteran housing needs and the group has identified a need for affordable housing options for veterans and their families. Programs like the Habitat for Heroes are specifically designed to help those low-income veterans and their families enter into the housing market in California by using not only their income but also their sweat equity.
“Innovative programs like this one are a great example of government, at all levels working in collaboration with the private sector, to meet a serious need,” said CalVet Secretary Peter J. Gravett. “The Governor initiated the ICV to identify programs like this and highlight them and if possible replicate them throughout California.”
About 1st Enterprise Bank
1st Enterprise Bank is a full service commercial banking institution, whose highly experienced bankers personally serve Southern California entrepreneurial businesses, professional firms and nonprofit organizations, along with their owners and key managers. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in the Los Angeles financial district with full service regional banking offices in Irvine and Ontario, 1st Enterprise Bank offers a full range of credit and depository services, with special emphasis on superior customer service, sophisticated cash management services and direct access to bank decision makers. Customers work directly with their Relationship Manager, who understands the unique challenges of their industry and serves as a sounding board and an active participant in their success.
About Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valleys (HFH SF/SCV)
We are a separately incorporated affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International. HFH SF/SCV’s affiliate is one of only 5% of Habitats internationally that have built or rebuilt over 100 homes (with 220 in history). Even fewer Habitats build large neighborhoods of homes and no other does so in an enriched environment that teaches a 12-month program of targeted self-sufficiency skills. Habitat is currently working on their 9th and 10th neighborhoods in North Los Angeles County as part of their veteran housing initiative “Habitat for Heroes”.