COMMUNITY SUPPORTER: KEN DOWNING
Community
Support Award recipient, 10th Annual Westside
Shelter & Hunger Coalition Celebrating Success
Breakfast
Given the competitive
housing market, homeless individuals, even those
with Section 8 vouchers, have great difficulty
finding a permanent place to live. Ken
Downing, a real estate developer, has been committed
to the Section 8 program and has partnered with St.
Joseph Center’s Senior Services and Affordable
Housing Program to place vulnerable homeless seniors
into permanent housing.
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Ken Downing has been involved
with real estate for the past 24 years. His
parents were school teachers who were involved with
real estate on the side and had helped to house poor
seniors for many years. With a Master’s of
Divinity, Ken spent some time as a pastor, but
switched to real estate full time in 1988. He
currently manages three buildings in Santa Monica
and several more in Los Angeles while serving as the
prayer ministry director at Venice-Santa Monica Free
Methodist Church.
Ken had been involved in
Section 8 housing and was looking to find the best
source of referrals for units that he had available.
He found that St. Joseph Center referred clients to
him who were “good people in need.” Ken commented,
“It is nice to get people into their own apartments
and to partner with staff who have the patience to
work with them.” His primary motivation for
doing this work is his desire to help people, but he
also acknowledged that it does not cost a lot to
help them.
How can you be like Ken? If
you own an apartment building and like the idea of
guaranteed, on-time payment of rent from programs
such as Section 8, Shelter Plus Care, or Supportive
Housing, please
contact
Jody Gilbert, Senior Housing Specialist
with the City of Santa Monica’s Housing Authority at 458-8740. |
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