A 21-bed housing project is proposed at 2716 Freedom Blvd. in Freedom. (Stephen Baxter — Santa Cruz Local)
Last updated: March 2024
Project name: Freedom House
Location: 2716 Freedom Blvd., Freedom
Encompass Community Services has run a residential treatment center for children on the site. Separate from the proposed project, the property also includes permanent supportive housing for adults.
Project description
Transitional housing is proposed for youths who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
- Eleven studios and 21 beds are proposed. The studios would have kitchenettes and bathrooms.
- The complex would include shared kitchen and living space and supportive services.
- The complex would require renovation of a house at 2716 Freedom Blvd. that had a residential treatment program run by Encompass Community Services.
Status
- Santa Cruz County staff is “hoping to start renovations at the site in early summer 2024, Santa Cruz County spokesman Alan Villatuya wrote in a March 13 email. Construction is expected to take six to nine months, he wrote.
- Santa Cruz County Planning Commission approval is not needed because the proposed use is already allowed on the site, Villatuya wrote. “Building codes and standards review will still be required,” he wrote.
- The County of Santa Cruz, CFSC Inc. and Covenant House California Inc. was awarded $3.6 million from the state’s Project Homekey for the project in December 2023. CFSC is a nonprofit group that owns, leases and manages housing for Encompass Community Services. “We are waiting for a final Homekey funding contract from the California Housing and Community Development Department before we can start work on this project,” Villatuya wrote in March.
- Leaders of Santa Cruz County’s Housing for Health Partnership decided to pursue the project and Project Homekey grant funding in a June 2022 meeting.
A $3.6 million Project Homekey grant is expected to fund renovations for housing at 2716 Freedom Blvd. in Freedom. (Stephen Baxter — Santa Cruz Local)
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