Resident Profiles
The people who live in 1010’s apartments are a diverse group. They are senior citizens, families with children of all ages, and couples. They speak many different languages and work many types of jobs. What they all have in common is their economic status and their desire to live in clean, safe, decent, affordable housing. All of 1010’s households must earn between 30% and 60% of the Area Median Income in order to qualify to live in a 1010 property. At that income level it is nearly impossible to find a decent place to live in Los Angeles, except in the scarce dedicated affordable housing units like 1010’s. You can meet some of our residents below.
Guerreira Family, JW Apartments
After having lived in a cramped and cold one bedroom apartment in the San Fernando Valley, Javier Guerreira, his wife Ivonne, and their three daughters moved into a 3-bedroom apartment in 1010's newest development, JW Apartments, when it opened in 2008 in the Westlake/Central City West neighborhood.
Mom Ivonne now walks their three daughters (Ariana, 5; Abigail, 7; and Andreina, 8) to school every day just a block away. Ivonne also volunteers at the girls' schools in the nurse's office and with the Safety Valet program setting up a safe traffic zone for parents to drop off their kids each day.
JW was 1010's first "green" development which incorporated environmentally-friendly materials and a number of energy efficiency features thanks to a grant from Enterprise Green Communities. Ivonne noticed the temperature-regulating low-e windows at JW right away.
"The windows that we had before I had to seal them because the cold used to come in so much and [my daughters'] bed was right next to it," says Ivonne. What made it worse for the Guerreiras was a family history of rheumatoid arthritis and the cold air "would make the pain so strong," according to Ivonne. Last winter, the aches and pains virtually disappeared because of the insulating qualities of JW's windows. "We didn't even need to turn the heater on at all and it didn't feel cold at all."
The Guerreira family also participates in the Toy Loan program operated at JW by our community partner, the Tenth Street/Bill Cruz Ready for School Center. Toy Loan is sponsored by L.A. County Department of Public Social Services and works much like a library, but with toys instead of books. After returning borrowed toys on time and in good condition children can, over time, earn toys to keep. In addition to learning to share and take care of the borrowed toys, the Guerreiras also found some unexpected educational benefits from the toy program.
Because of their good record, the girls were able to keep musical instruments including a mini drum set, a keyboard, and an accordion. But one of Andreina's favorites was Yahtzee. "She loved it because she had trouble with math and it uses concepts of grouping numbers ... and it helped her with her math," says a proud Ivonne. "She took it to school and her teacher loved it."
Ivonne says the family is grateful to be living in JW now.
"We're very thankful. We think of it a lot, to see that we have a good place to live. We appreciate it. Thank you for all the people who are behind making these things happen. It really improves a lot of lives; on our part it has, so we appreciate it."
