Virgina Guevera, 66, had been homeless in Orange County since 2016, living in a car for half a decade before moving into a shelter for a few years.

But in January, she moved into a new affordable housing complex in Stanton that will be her first permanent home in years.

“To me, there’s peace and there’s serenity,” Guevera said. “You have privacy.”

Guevera’s home is in the Clara Vista apartments, one of three motel conversions unveiled on Wednesday, May 29, in Stanton. The three complexes, with a combined 153 rental units, are now all permanent supportive housing communities that will serve people who are experiencing homelessness, with some units set aside for those with significant mental disabilities and veterans.

All three developments received state funding from Homekey, which is one of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature programs that turns blighted motels and other properties into housing for the homeless – Newsom visited another Homekey project in Costa Mesa in January.

The county and city of Stanton also chipped in to fund the three new conversions along with help from tax credits.

The three apartment complexes that have finished in Stanton:

Iluma, 72 units, $24 million to develop out of the former Stanton Inn & Suites at 7161 Katella Ave.
Clara Vista, 60 units, $30 million to develop out of the former Tahiti Motel at 11850 Beach Blvd.
Aurora Vista, 21 units, $13 million to develop out of the former Riviera Motel at 11892 Beach Blvd.

The three developments all finished their renovations in recent months.

Guevera toured the Clara Vista apartments during construction and said she felt comfortable moving in since the studio she would get was around 500 square feet, had a kitchen and came partially furnished with a bed and dresser. At the shelter, there was no privacy with shared rooms and bathrooms.

After moving in, Guevera slept so much that first week that she “felt like Rip Van Winkle,” she said.

Local leaders celebrating the new communities called the complexes a dream for the city and a strong strategy in combating the homelessness crisis.

Councilmember Carol Warren said any concerns that the new apartments would “run the city down and would be terrible” were proven wrong.

“All these other cities that have this hands-off attitude have gotta change. They do,” she said. “These are wonderful projects that are win-win for everyone involved.”

“Everybody thought this ‘would be bad for my neighborhood,’” Mayor David Shawver said. “But today we proved them wrong.”

The nonprofit Jamboree Housing Corporation will manage the three communities, each setting aside a single unit for a manager.

Around 7,300 people in the county are homeless, according to data released by OC officials in May. More than 4,100 of those people are living on the streets; less than half are living in shelters or some form of temporary housing.

The three Stanton Homekey communities are all permanent housing communities, and they come with support staff to assist people with various services to remain successfully housed. Rent will be max out at around $700 to $800 per month for all three communities.

Finding new uses for the three aging motels also speaks to the city’s efforts the last several years to revitalize Beach Boulevard, once a major link to the coast for travelers in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Anaheim and Buena Park have joined Stanton leaders in efforts to improve the corridor by reducing sources of blight and crime and improving its economic outlook. Both cities have purchased and demolished several Beach Boulevard motels over the last several years, including to make room for more affordable housing.

Councilmember Gary Taylor called the new complexes a dream for Stanton and said the projects were the right idea to push for – all the votes for the Homekey sites were unanimous, he added.

Tim Lawless, with the California Department of Housing and Community Development, said Homekey has awarded $3.4 billion in funding to 250 projects across the state in three years, which will create 15,000 housing units.

Lawless, who oversees the Homekey program, noted that there are 40,000 units of affordable housing in the pipeline in California. While there will likely be less money for housing as the state works to find places to cut spending for its new budget, housing and homelessness remain top priorities for the Newsom administration, he said.

Proposition 1, passed in the March primary election, will provide an additional $2 billion for Homekey, with more than half of that set aside for veterans. More than 300 of those counted this year among OC’s homeless are veterans.

Guevera, who was born in Fullerton, fell into homeless after financial struggles in the 2010s, she said. Now she’s going to be working as a certified nursing assistant and has a roof over her head.

People need to have compassion, she said, when they see someone who is homeless.

“We are more than just statistics,” Guevera said. “We are people with dreams and hope.”

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