Font ResizeNikia Blair was on a bus when she learned that she'd secured a spot at Shinsei Gardens Apartments, but that didn't stop her from shouting with joy.
"They were like, "Oh my god, what is she screaming for?'" said Blair of her fellow passengers. A mother of seven, Blair had been living in shelters in Alameda and Oakland for a year, applying for housing across the Bay Area and as far away as San Diego. She was beginning to lose hope that her family would ever be accepted to an affordable-housing development when the call came through in July.
Now Blair and her children, ages 4 to 16, are settling into Shinsei, a four-building, 39-unit Alameda residential complex that the family has called home since Sept. 5.
"I was very blessed," said Blair, who counted the community among her top choices. "I love Alameda."
On Tuesday, nonprofit housing developer Resources for Community Development (RCD) held an official grand-opening ceremony for the development, drawing approximately 150 adults and children to the 2½-acre community in the Bayport neighborhood. Speakers included Dan Sawislak, RCD executive director; Art Kurrasch, city of Alameda Housing commissioner; Mike Pucci, Alameda Housing Authority executive director; and Alameda Mayor Beverly Johnson, who championed the project as a "great investment of the city's affordable-housing dollars."
Developed as part of a city plan to convert the former Alameda Naval Air Station and Fleet Industrial
The development is designed to provide residents easy and equal access to a central courtyard and children's play area, a computer learning center, a multipurpose community room, bicycle storage rooms, an outdoor barbecue and seating area, and other amenities. Shinsei Gardens also boasts numerous environmentally friendly features.
"It's been built to very, very high green specifications," explained RCD Deputy Director Linda Mackey, who says Shinsei Gardens, with its common-area photovoltaic system, Energy Star appliances and lighting fixtures, and recycled construction materials, is a candidate for the U.S. Green Building Council's highest certification, LEED Platinum.
"It's probably the best and the highest-quality project we have," Mackey added.
Residents of Shinsei Gardens will benefit from more than just the beauty of their new homes. As it does for most RCD properties, the nonprofit Operation Dignity will provide resident services at Shinsei ranging from employment and job-skills training to computer classes and youth activities. Additionally, residents will receive help linking them to existing community services.
Blair remains as amazed today as she was in July.
"Every time I open the door I go out on the front porch and thank Jesus," she said. "I love this place. I love Shinsei."
