Cesar Chavez Foundation and New Directions for Veterans to break ground on affordable housing project for veterans in West Adams district on April 4

LOS ANGELES – The Cesar Chavez Foundation and New Directions for Veterans (NDVets) will officially break ground on Ybarra Village, a new affordable housing community for veterans in the West Adams district of Los Angeles on April 4, 2018. This new residential community will feature 64 units with on-site supportive services for veterans provided by NDVets.

“There is an affordable housing crisis in Los Angeles and this project is critical to helping veterans in need of housing,” said Alfredo Izmajtovich, Executive Vice President of Housing and Economic Development for the Cesar Chavez Foundation. “We look forward to working with New Directions for Veterans in order to provide veterans with affordable housing and the services they require.”

Ybarra Village will feature 64 units with more than half of the units designated for homeless veterans, as well as additional units for veterans’ with special needs. The remainder of the units will be allocated for seniors, with a preference given to senior veterans. There will be a wide range of on-site social service programs for veterans provided by NDVets, including counseling, case management, job training, legal assistance and Veteran Affairs (VA) health services and benefits assistance.

“It’s an unfortunate reality that veterans are more likely than civilians to experience homelessness in their lifetime due to factors like Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),” said NDVets CEO and President, Colonel (Ret.) Yvette J. Kelley. “We are grateful to the Cesar Chavez Foundation for making veterans a priority with the construction of Ybarra Village, where veterans will have a safe place to live with staff on-site to help ensure they have the necessary support and resources to retain housing.”

The property is named for Miguel “Mike” Ybarra, a U.S. Marine Corps and World War II veteran. Ybarra was active with the United Farm Workers and worked with both the union and Cesar Chavez to organize farm workers across California. He was a longtime board member of the Cesar Chavez Foundation.