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Housing
200 units of Navy housing have been completely rehabilitated
to provide comfortable living environments. The housing is
a mix of apartment buildings and small cottages featuring
individual yards and common play areas. Half the housing is
provided on a transitional basis for up to two years and the
other half is for permanent residency.
Support Services
Each household is works with a support specialist who serves
as a consultant, guiding residents through their transition
from homelessness. Support specialists advocate for residents
when needed and are a link to government agencies, doctors,
schools, and other resources.
Employment Services
Locating and retaining fulfilling employment with a living
wage is a critical step on the path out of homelessness and
poverty. Recognizing the importance of overcoming barriers
to employment as central to residents’ efforts to become
self-sufficient, APC created the on-site Career Path Employment
Program. Career Path builds on a continuum of strategies that
begin with referral and continue through employment, including:
Assessment and Individualized Employment Plans, Vocational
Training and Education, Job Readiness, Job Search, On-the-Job
Training, Job Placement, and Job Retention.
Life Skills Development
APC staff and partnering agencies provide training and workshops
in financial education, budgeting, account set-up, housekeeping
and locating permanent housing.
Mental Health
APC’s staff of counselors is dedicated to listening
and providing a safe environment for residents to address
mental health concerns and celebrate personal successes. In
addition to one-on-one counseling, APC offers couples counseling,
children and youth counseling, family counseling, assessments,
education and referrals.
Substance Abuse Counseling
APC provides education and support to residents with chemical
addictions so that life skills may be enhanced, housing is
maintained, and quality of life improves.
Children and Youth Services
Like the adults in their families, APC resident children and
youth are rebuilding their lives after a period of homelessness
and trauma. Some have recently reunified with their families
after a period of foster care or separation; all have been
impacted by poverty, domestic violence, disabilities, or mental
illness in their families. APC Children and Youth Services
provide focused activities that support physical and emotional
safety, encourage positive life skills, promote creativity
and learning, and nurture self-esteem of resident children
and youth. While adults receive support services, their children
participate in parallel activities in a nearby youth room.
Community Building
APC contributes to community growth by providing meeting space,
activities, and other events. APC staff and residents participate
in more than a dozen activities each year including community
service days, solstice celebrations, holiday parties, bonfires,
Native American rituals, feasts, achievement ceremonies, and
weekly community breakfasts.
Community Garden Co-op
The Community Garden was built by and for APC residents, students
at a local charter high school, and neighbors. The garden
provides healthy organic produce and a sense of one community
among existing APC residents and their neighbors.
Ploughshares Nursery Project
The Ploughshares Nursery will be a retail organic plant nursery
located on the site of the former military base in Alameda.
While providing a needed service to a new community that is
being built from the ground up, Ploughshares will generate
revenue for APC's housing and service programs, provide job
training and permanent employment for formerly homeless people,
and transform neglected land to an ecologically sustainable
use.
Community Arts Center
In May, 2003 a fire destroyed a building that was slated to
be converted into our Community Arts Center, a major performance
and art exhibit space for Alameda. One day soon, a new Center
will rise like a phoenix from the ashes of the burnt out building.

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