Opportunity Center

Community Working Group (CWG)

Two Bay Area organizations that share the mission of ending homelessness — Community Working Group (CWG) and Abode — have come together to help meet their respective goals. They’ve formed a strategic alliance to leverage both groups’ strengths, so they can better provide supportive housing to homeless people.

Abode provides a combination of housing and services for those who need a home in six Bay Area counties. CWG, meanwhile, develops affordable permanent supportive housing in the South Bay and provides access to supportive services that help homeless residents or those at risk of being homeless.

Although CWG and Abode have remained separate nonprofit entities since the alliance formed in April 2017, they have combined their board of directors, which now oversees the direction of both groups.

The alliance will help the organizations work more efficiently and effectively, said John Barton, a CWG-Abode board member.

“Abode provides a larger level of staff support that will help CWG,” he said. “And CWG adds some political oomph to the work on the mid- Peninsula that Abode is already doing.”

Barton said part of the alliance’s appeal stemmed from both groups’ commitment to the Housing First approach, which finds that once one has housing, the services that follow are more effective.

“Now that we have the staff support to get more things done, we’re looking more seriously at new projects that we couldn’t have done before,” he said.

Other Palo Alto properties where CWG and Abode provide housing and services for low-income residents include 801 Alma Family Housing and Alma Garden Apartments. More information about those housing sites are below.

801 Alma Family Housing

801 Alma Family Housing provides 50 affordable homes for very low-income working families in our community. The residents living at 801 Alma Family Housing incldue low-income workers such as child care and senior care providers, medical assistants, and grocery store clerks, among others, who earn between 30 and 50 percent of the area’s median annual income — approximately $21,000-$52,000 for a family of four. Managed by Eden Housing, the apartments will remain affordable for at least 55 years. The housing site is located at 801 Alma Street in downtown Palo Alto.

Designed for Families
801 Alma is only two blocks away from the downtown multi-modal transit station and is situated within easy walking distance of groceries, parks, schools, stores, medical services, and other downtown amenities. The facility, which was designed by award-winning architect Rob Quigley, has 16 three-bedroom apartments, 26 two-bedroom apartments, and 8 one-bedroom apartments. The building features garden courts filled with tall bamboo plants, bringing natural light to all rooms in the apartments while providing privacy between homes.

801 Alma offers generous common spaces, including a lobby, a community room, a computer classroom, management offices, bike storage areas, a laundry room with an outdoor deck, a spacious outdoor courtyard with space for families to gather, and a children’s play area. An elevator serves all floors, including an underground garage. The building also has street-level guest parking.

On-site Services and Enrichment
Eden Housing Resident Services, Inc. (EHRSI) provides a range of supportive services and enrichment programs designed to meet the needs of the diverse resident population of 801 Alma. EHRSI’s resident services coordinators are onsite to offer important information and referral services and to implement key programs including youth summer and after-school activities, an innovative computer-assisted learning program, a scholarship program for eligible resident families, financial literacy training, and community-building activities.

In addition, Eden Housing offers its exemplary Digital Connectors Technology and Leadership Program, which trains young people between the ages of 14 and 20 in the areas of technology instruction, tech support and solutions, video production, entrepreneurship, and youth leadership development.

Availability
801 Alma is at capacity and currently has a waiting list of 500 families. CWG’s partner in developing 801 Alma, Eden Housing, manages the apartments.

Contact Us
For inquiries or to be added to the waiting list, contact Eden Housing at 510-582-1460 or click here.  

Mailing Address
801 Alma Family Housing
801 Alma Street
Palo Alto, CA 94301

Alma Garden Apartments

Alma Garden Apartments offers 10 affordable homes for very low-income residents, whose incomes are at or below 50 percent Area Median Income.

Alma Garden Apartments comprises three buildings housing eight studio apartments, two one-bedroom apartments, a laundry room, and an office. Community Working Group bought the former market-rate apartment complex in 2006 with assistance from the City of Palo Alto. In 2012, CWG renovated the complex by installing new roofs and double-paned windows, repaving the driveways and parking areas, and conducting a seismic retrofit of the complex’s two-story building.

Abode Property Management manages Alma Garden Apartments, which is located at 2507-2533 Alma Street in Palo Alto.

Mailing Address
Alma Garden Apartments
2507-2533 Alma Street
Palo Alto, CA 94301