The Cooper Housing Institute, an Irvine-based nonprofit focused on housing solutions, Monday announced a $50,000 grant to Family Assistance Ministries to aid Orange County residents in danger of losing their homes amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has created undue stress on individuals and families everywhere, and in particular to those who are already fighting to keep a roof over their heads and call an affordable place home,” said Cooper Housing Institute co-founder Will Cooper Jr. “The Cooper Housing Institute believes that every person should have access to quality, safe and affordable housing, and that decent living standards increase the quality of life of each person and our community as a whole.”
Co-founder Will Cooper Sr. said the purpose of this grant “is to assist Family Assistance Ministries in their efforts to help those most at risk of losing their home as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Family Assistance Ministries has a well-earned reputation as one of Orange County’s best run and most effective nonprofits, and we couldn’t be happier to provide this grant to assist them with their honorable mission.”
Based in San Clemente, Family Assistance Ministries is a faith-based charity organization assisting those in need in Orange County with food, shelter and personalized supportive counsel and aid to help them bridge the gap from dependency to self-sufficiency.
FAM helps people avoid eviction with rental assistance and helps homeless people get off of the streets. The nonprofit provided nearly 7,300 hours of case management, distributed 2.7 million pounds of food and provided 2.3 million meals to hungry people in 2019 and also made 1,100 deliveries of food to support homeless students at Saddleback College.
“FAM is honored to receive the support of the Cooper Housing Institute,” said Elizabeth Andrade of Family Assistance Ministries. “Our community is in need of immediate solutions that will help them preserve a safe place to live as they work towards financial stability. We are confident that this investment will make a long-lasting impact in the lives of adults and children who are most vulnerable to losing their housing.”
The grant to FAM is the first of a series of grants that the Cooper Housing Institute will be making to community-based organizations in Orange County to address housing crises created by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to its founders. They lead Irvine-based WNC, a provider of investment, asset management and development services in the affordable housing industry, and created the nonprofit in 2018.
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