It all began nearly four years ago when in an effort to address the growing homeless population, the idea of San Miguel Residence; an innovative supportive housing program was born.

As the venture began taking shape, care provider, Mercy House reached out to HomeAid Orange County asking them to serve as the project developer. Soon after, HomeAid recruited Builder Captains, Lennar South Coast Homebuilding (Greystone Homes) and Lennar Orange County Homebuilding and together-along with the City of Santa Ana, and the Historic French Park Neighborhood Association - they formed the partnership that became the San Miguel Residence development team.

The Builder Captains were set to the task of building two separate structures; a two-story 2,700 square foot craftsman style home designed by Bassenian/Lagoni Architects built by Lennar Orange County Homebuilding - and the second, a 4,200 square foot five-unit apartment building in a Spanish motif designed by Costa Mesa-based firm, Bloodgood Sharp Buster Architects & Planners, Inc., built by Lennar South Coast Homebuilding.

Under the guidance of Douglas Woodward, Lennar South Coast Homebuilding division president, along with his team, Mark Kemmerer, vice president of operations, Colleen Rust and Karl Newman; and Lennar Orange County Homebuilding led by Bob Tummolo, senior vice president of operations with his team; John Jessup, vice president of operations, Dore Kingham and Casey Murphy in-kind donations of labor and materials were enlisted from over 175 trade partners who either donated or provided discounted services and supplies.

The two-structure San Miguel design was crafted to serve a mix of individuals and families, with the majority of residents coming from one of Mercy House's transitional programs including Joseph House for homeless men. Two other Mercy House shelters, Emmanuel House serving adults living with HIV/AIDS; and Regina House for homeless women and children - both developed by HomeAid and its partners - will also transition residents into the new project.

Residents are expected to take occupancy in the craftsman home by the end of the month with families slated to move into the five-unit apartment building within the next 30 days.

Among the many who came to celebrate were Santa Ana Mayor, Miguel Pulido, and Santa Ana councilman, Mike Garcia; along with representatives from the offices of Senator, Joe Dunn, Congressman, Chris Cox, Congressman, Ed Royce and Assemblyman, Chuck DeVore.

The dignitaries and other key partners, joined care provider, Mercy House founder Father Jerome Karcher, and Mercy House executive director, Larry Haynes, to take part in a ribbon cutting ceremony, the official opening of the project.

According to Haynes, San Miguel Residence one of the highlights of the project dedication was the announcement of the new alliance with his alma mater, Vanguard University.

"We were pleased to unveil the new partnership with Vanguard University a wonderful institution that has generously agreed to provide full scholarships for the San Miguel Residents," said Haynes who went on to say that this contribution will provide educational opportunities for young people who would otherwise not be able to attend college.

HomeAid Orange County, the founding chapter of HomeAid America, was established in 1989 by Building Industry Association with the mission of building or renovating shelters for temporarily homeless Orange County men, women and children. Since its inception, HomeAid Orange County has completed 37 shelter projects, with four projects currently under construction or in the planning stage. To date over $20 million has been donated in cash and materials. For information, please call HomeAid Orange County (949) 553-9510 or visit www.homeaidoc.org

ABOUT SAN MIGUEL RESIDENCE:

San Miguel Residence provides temporary supportive housing and is committed to maintaining a loving, caring, and family-like environment where residents are given the opportunity to become independent and self-reliant.

Care Provider: Mercy House serves as the care provider for San Miguel. Comprised of a Craftsman style single-family home and a Spanish-style five-unit apartment building San Miguel will provide a minimum of 16 beds to house a mix of homeless individuals and families, the majority of which will come from one of Mercy House's transitional programs including Joseph House for homeless men; Emmanuel House serving adults living with HIV/AIDS; and Regina House for homeless women and children.

Construction Completed By: This shelter development was facilitated through HomeAid Orange County with Lennar South Coast Homebuilding, Lennar Orange County Homebuilding; Bassenian/Lagoni Architects; Bloodgood Sharp Buster Architects; Creative Design Consultants and Ambrosia Interior Design, Inc., plus over 150 companies that contributed time and resources to the project.

HOMEAID ORANGE COUNTY AND ITS SUPPORTERS WISH TO EXPRESS THEIR GRATITUDE FOR ALL OF THE TRADES, SUPPLIERS AND ASSOCIATES WHO GAVE SO MUCH SO THAT THOSE IN NEED MIGHT HAVE A SECOND CHANCE.

Accelerated Waterproofing Alliance Hardware & Supply Aliso Air Inc. ALM Painting Ambrosia Interior Design, Inc. American Building Supply American Sign Company Arcadian Gallery Architectural Products Resources Arizona Tile Astro Electric Avalon Designs Bassenian/Lagoni Architects Bedrosians Berner Electric, Inc. BIA of Southern California, OC Chapter Bloodgood Sharp Buster Architects & Planners Builders Termite & Pest Control Cal-West Nurseries, Inc. California Building Specialties California Truss Company California Underlayments Capital Drywall Carrier-Bryant Casa Plumbing, Inc. Certainteed Roofing Material Christey's City of Santa Ana HOPWA Program Clearview Windows Coast Framing Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Santa Ana Consol Consolidated Reprographics Contract Resources Corbin Custom Tile Inc. Creative Design Consultants, Inc. Crown Custom Hardware Crown Sheet Metal Custom Floor Protection Custom Glass Fabricators David Heath-Western Exposure Diaz Construction Co., Inc. DRI Residential Dupont Corian DW Consultants Elite Bobcat E.B.S. Concrete, Inc. Empire Door Endrizzi Grading Fabricut Fire Sprinkler Systems, Inc. Galleher, Inc. Gateway Insulation, Inc. GE Capital Modular Space General Electric Appliances Golden State Fence Company Gouvis Engineering California Grove Lumber Hellenic Rug Imports, Inc. Hennessey Group Heritage Energy Group Historic French Park Neighborhood Assoc. Home Depot, USA, Inc. HomeAid Orange County, Inc. Hunter-Douglas Impressive Engravings Import Stone Infinity Group In-Sinkerator James Truss Company Jeld-Weld Doors K L Nicolai & Associates, Inc. Karcher Firestopping Kohler Company Kwikset Corporation LI Metal Systems LT Air Corporation L & S Construction Larry Methvin Installations, Inc. Lasco Bathware, Inc. Laurence-Hovenier, Inc. Lennar Homes of California, Inc. Lennar Orange County Homebuilding Lennar South Coast Homebuilding Leonard's Carpet Service, Inc. Long Beach Garage Doors MailBoxes4Less Mandalay

Mannington Marlin Designs Mayer Roofing Rick Maurer MDS Consulting ME Knollkamper MJW & Associates Mega Western Sales Mercy House Mobile Fire Extinguishers, Inc. Modern Electric, Inc. Mohawk Industries Monier Lifetile Nadeau Furniture Nicholas Lane Contractors, Inc. Nova Innovative Systems Design Oak Leaf Landscape Omega Products Option One Consulting Engineers Orange Pacific Construction, Inc. Pacific Coast Reprographics, Inc. Pacific Cosmetic Repair Pacific Line Cleanup, Inc. Pacific Planning Group, Inc. Pan American Paragon Schmid Building Products Petra Geotechnical Inc. Pindler & Pindler Pipeline Plumbing Plumbing Concepts Portosan Company, LLC Progress Lighting Quail Engineering, Inc. Quilting House R & D Imports R&G Installations RII Painting Regal Cultured Marble Regal Rents Inc. Reliable Contractors, Inc. Reliable Lumber Rheem-Rudd RLS Plastering Robbins Plumbing & Heating Contractors Robert Lunetta Company Robert Rooks Photography Route 66 Roofing Company, Inc. Royal Mattress RSI Professional Builder Services San Diego Mirror and Window San Marino Plastering, Inc. Semco Sherwin Williams Sierra Building Products Sigla Furniture Signature Interiors Simply Suzi South Coast Stairs, Inc. Southern California Edison Company Steffanino's, Inc. Steve Wolff & Associates Strategic Technologies Surface Technology Corp. Tailored Masonry of California Taller San Jose Temp Power Systems The Gas Company Therma Tru Total Environmental Industries Trenchers West Tress, USA Trimco Finish TWR Enterprises Unicorn Delivery Universal Truss Company Urban Arena Landscape Architecture & Planning Urban Concrete USP Valley Building Materials Vasquez Landscaping Vintage Design Walldesign Western Shower Door West Coast Cleaning Xcellent Touch, Inc. Xiqui Produce Zocalo Furniture

HOW YOU CAN HELP

HomeAid Orange County depends on the support of the Building Industry Association, corporate contributions, individual and community participation, and HomeAid's annual fund raising events' revenues for its shelter building and renovation programs.

With that in mind, we are asking that you consider becoming a HomeAid Orange County contributor, sponsor or underwriter. Your support will ensure the continued success of HomeAid's shelter development projects and help temporarily homeless families and individuals get a fresh start in life.

For more information visit www.homeaidoc.org or call (949) 553-9510