​Mercy Housing Celebrates Opening of Arbor at Hesperian

From Mercy Housing California: For many residents of The Arbor at Hesperian, San Lorenzo’s newest affordable community for seniors, the Grand Opening celebration marks a homecoming. With an increasing
demand to preserve affordability in San Lorenzo and the Bay Area, the 77 service-enriched apartments
were developed and marketed with a local preference—the first of its kind for San Lorenzo—with the
goal of allowing seniors already living in the area to remain in the community and close to their support
networks. The result: 51% of the households moving in are local residents who will continue to call San
Lorenzo home.

“At 74, I had to sell my home and look for more affordable housing,” says Faye Ruben, one of The Arbor
at Hesperian’s first residents. “I moved to Alameda County in 1964 and after working in San Lorenzo for
25 years, I’m thrilled to be able to stay in this neighborhood near friends and family and give back to the
community here.”

A ribbon cutting marked the realization of six years of collaboration between Mercy Housing
California—one of the state’s largest non-profit affordable housing developers—and Alameda County
to help alleviate the senior housing crisis in the area. For many Bay Area seniors like Faye Ruben, the
inadequate housing supply and skyrocketing costs mean being forced to choose between food,
medicine, and a home. Seniors, who are too often pushed out of high-cost areas, increasingly finding
themselves homeless and struggling to make ends meet. Approximately 30% of seniors nationwide
spend more than half of their income on rent.

The good news is there are proven strategies that can help. “By investing in service-enriched senior
housing like The Arbor at Hesperian, we can ensure our seniors have a safe, decent and affordable home
to age in place, while providing a stable platform to deliver community support and programs that
improve their health and quality of life,” says Doug Shoemaker, President of Mercy Housing California.
“Affordable housing for seniors is needed now more than ever with the cost of rental housing having
nearly doubled in Alameda County during the past 7 years. The Arbor at Hesperian is already making a
tremendous difference in our community,” says Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan.

The Arbor at Hesperian is planned with onsite services to meet the unique and critical needs of
seniors—offering staff and programs focused on health and wellness, housing stability, and community
engagement. The community boasts an exercise room for tai chi and fall prevention classes, lounges for
book club meetings, and a wellness room to provide a private and comfortable space for visiting nurses.
Collaborating with the neighbors on the development and design of The Arbor at Hesperian, the
community also reflects its local heritage. Shade trees, wood finishes, and lush gardens help transform
the site of the former post office into a residential anchor while new walkways invite neighbors to visit
the recently expanded and renovated Alameda County library. A central orchard, a nod to San Lorenzo’s
agrarian past, welcomes seniors outdoors to pick fresh fruit in season.

In the Bay Area, where the weight of the housing crisis is especially heavy and where many seniors
teeter on the brink of homelessness due to the high cost of living coupled with fixed incomes and
limited savings, The Arbor at Hesperian is a model solution and critical in preventing the problem from
worsening. Financial partners for The Arbor at Hesperian are Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Wells Fargo
Affordable Housing Community Development Corporation, California Tax Credit Allocation Committee,
and Alameda County. The Arbor at Hesperian is one of the last projects to survive the dissolution of
redevelopment and embodies redevelopment at its best—eliminating blight, supporting the local
economy, and providing safe, healthy, affordable housing for local residents.

Photo courtesy of Mercy Housing