State grant for homeless project in Downtown Riverside

$10-million helps round out financing for $22M transitional housing campus in Inland Empire city

Artist rendering of homeless residents in Downtown Riverside (TruEvolution)
Artist rendering of homeless residents in Downtown Riverside (TruEvolution)

The state has kicked in $10 million to help build a 49-bed housing project for homeless residents in Downtown Riverside.

The Riverside City Council voted to approve the California grant, which will allow construction of the $21.9 million transitional housing campus, the Press-Enterprise reported. Riverside is the most populous city in the Inland Empire.

TruEvolution, a nonprofit agency based in Riverside, expects to break ground on its Project Legacy project in late February and be finished sometime this year.

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The grant will help pay for renovating five single-family homes and a commercial building on Brockton Avenue, Ninth Street and University Avenue, according to a city report. Some of the homes are early-century California bungalows, which will be restored.
TruEvolution founder and CEO Gabriel Maldonado said in a video that the project links six properties acquired for $4 million, and will serve as a multi-site community campus for mostly homeless residents.
Other recipients will include victims of domestic violence, those who suffer from mental health challenges or are living with HIV.
Project Legacy will feature an emergency shelter and transitional housing, primary and mental health clinics, a fitness center and a community garden in a campus setting “right in the heart of downtown Riverside,” Maldonado said.
Around 75 percent of the beds will be targeted toward those who identify as LGBTQ, he said. The program will serve 120 people a year.

[Press-Enterprise] – Dana Bartholomew

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