It could be hard to imagine what it must be like to escape one terrible situation, only to be trapped in a nearly identical situation a short time later.
Tom Mauro, chief mission officer of the Irvine-based nonprofit organization Caritas Corp., said that’s exactly the circumstance one family found themselves in after being forced to flee Mexico because of the ever-present threat of drug- and gang-related violence.
The family came to Orange County in 2012 and ended up in an area inundated with gangs, one of which targeted their 14-year-old son. The mother sent the son to live with relatives in a mobile housing community operated by Caritas. The boy was safe—and even more, he had access to English classes, tutoring, and after school activities offered by Caritas that helped him form connections.
It was a good move for the boy, Mauro said.
“We like to think we made a difference.”
A Look at Caritas
So what is Caritas, and how did it change the boy’s life?
Caritas owns and operates affordable, long-term housing for people in need in the form of mobile homes.
But there is much more to it than that, Mauro said.
“What makes a Caritas community different,” he explained, “is that in each of our communities, we develop programs that promote quality of life for our residents, not just within our parks but overall.”
Caritas parks offer programs that include English-as-a-second-language programs, exercise classes, movie nights, organized youth groups, a farmers market, clothing banks, holiday celebrations and more.
The residents are encouraged to take an active role in the communities by helping establish rules and regulations, suggesting activities, and developing social programs that benefit residents.
Affordable Housing Challenge
Caritas has three communities in Orange County: Emerald Isle and Bahia Village, both in Garden Grove, and Rancho Brea in Brea. Seventeen other communities are scattered around Southern California, from Vacaville to San Marcos.
Caritas was founded in 1996 to provide people experiencing hardship a safe, clean place to live.
Caritas found that there were thousands of mobile housing communities in California, though Mauro said many were in need of a facelift or major repairs and renovations. Plus, many residents struggled to afford to pay the escalating rents on their spaces.
“We came up with a ‘win-win’ solution that was yet untried,” he said.
It arrived at the solution of partnering with cities to buy mobile home communities. The most important criterion was that at least 40% of the residents qualify as low-income households.
A city “wins” because it doesn’t have to build affordable housing, thus avoiding the “not in my backyard” issue and having to locate land. Cities also benefit because properties in Caritas’ portfolio get renovated.
Residents win, Mauro said, because rents remain affordable, and the housing is improved. Caritas also creates sustainable programs designed to meet residents’ needs and help create a feeling of connection, safety, and overall, better places to live.
More Than a Place to Live
In the nearly 20 years since the nonprofit’s inception, Caritas’ formula has proven a success, Mauro said.
The business community lends support to its resident programs.
Hasbro Inc., for example, has donated thousands of educational toys and games, he said. Caritas has also partnered with other nonprofit groups, including First Book, which donates books to its summer reading program. The organization also built a soccer field in one of its parks, utilizing a grant from the LA84 Foundation.
“Caritas communities,” Mauro said, “are built on the idea that a close-knit neighborhood with involved residents is safer, cleaner, and an overall better place to live than one where tenants are disconnected.”
