Success Stories
Select the adjacent thumbnails to view more of our recent success stories.
Witmer Winners
Before moving to Witmer Heights, the Villata's struggled to pay $725 rent for their tiny studio apartment. It was "awful" but it was all they could afford. When the Villata's saw an ad for Witmer Heights they immediately submitted an application and were overjoyed when they were accepted. "We couldn't believe it! Witmer Heights is so beautiful, and everything is clean and new-for the first time my son has a bedroom of his own," said Febe Villata.
Luanne
A longtime resident of Downtown Los Angeles, Luanne lives in one of the artist spaces at the Rivers Hotel, surrounded by her art. Also a longtime member of the downtown arts community, Luanne serves as an advocate for the homeless by organizing creative activities in parks and on the streets. She continues to produce her artwork despite debilitating health problems and chronic pain.
Describing herself as “compulsively creative,” she writes music, and creates art in a broad range of media including silkscreen, linoleum block print, acrylic paint, and collage.
Alonzo
An actor and security guard for “red carpet” events, Alonzo had been living in Rancho Cucamonga with his wife and two young sons. When his marriage ended, he was awarded the apartment the family had been living in, but he chose to allow his ex-wife and sons to remain there because it was less disruptive for his children. Looking for his own place, however, was more difficult than he expected; he ended up staying with a friend for more than a year. Finally, he applied for and was selected to live in an affordable apartment at Santee Court.
Luz
Luz, her husband Salvador, and their four children—ages 11 through 16—had been living in a cramped two-bedroom apartment for years. After being on a Section 8 waiting list for three years and searching in vain for a decent apartment for two years, Luz was called one day last year to her daughter’s school because the young girl was running a fever. On her way, Luz saw a line of people in front of the soon-to-be opened Skyline Village. She quickly parked, jumped out of her car, and got an application. The $45 parking ticket she discovered upon returning to her car was a small price to pay for their beautiful new four-bedroom home. “We could not afford to pay $45, but it was worth it. I’m so glad to live in this place.”
Suzanne
Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Suzanne has found a new talent in her later years—writing screen plays. With encouragement from writing classes offered in the More Than Shelter For Seniors program at the Burbank Senior Artists Colony where she lives, Suzanne has written a short film that will be produced at the Artists Colony facility with other residents.
“I never wrote dialogue in my life before…and now I am about to learn film editing. Without this program I never would have known that I had these talents,” she says.
