CHOC Kicks Off Inaugural Giving Tuesday Campaign in November
Donate to CHOC Impact Resident Services on Giving Tuesday
CHOC’s Community Impact division creates safe, thriving communities for youth, seniors, and hardworking families. On Giving Tuesday (03DEC), please consider donating to support the life-changing work we do with the residents of our affordable housing communities.
The working families residing at CHOC's affordable housing communities provide for their loved ones, but the high cost of living, unforeseen emergencies, and financial instability can result in households walking a fine line between stability and crisis. One unexpected event can throw everything off course.
“Our mission is to help families be self-sustainable and stay housed,” says Juan Pulido, Community Impact Resident Services Director. “By providing services across all our sites, whether it’s required or not, we believe our residents deserve a healthy and thriving environment to live in.”
Photo courtesy of Noé Montes
New Donation Capabilities Coming Soon
We are adding new online donation capabilities to the CHOC website, facilitating donations to CHOC Community Impact. Our visual designer and website manager, Margaret Thompson, highlights the capabilities of this feature: “We’re thrilled to offer a donation experience that’s as straightforward and impactful as CHOC’s mission itself, allowing supporters to give in ways that feel personal and impactful.”
Helping Working Families Thrive
Even though they are housed, our families are often just one paycheck, one medical emergency, or one car breakdown away from losing everything. Whether it’s rental assistance, help with utilities, or access to emergency food closets, CHOC Impact’s Resident Services Program is there to provide support when families need it most.
“Nothing is as valuable as having two feet on the ground — knowing where your front door is.” — Ray, CHOC Resident
Through partnerships with local agencies, banks, and credit unions, our families are offered financial literacy workshops, where they learn about budgeting, credit, and even home ownership.
And the conversation isn’t just for parents — CHOC Impact takes a multigenerational approach, making sure that children, parents, and even grandparents are part of the conversation.
The impact of these services reaches beyond just financial stability. It fosters hope.
Building Community, Connection, and Care for Seniors
CHOC Impact Senior Services addresses the unique needs of elder residents at all CHOC communities.
Our Community Impact Coordinators assist our senior residents with financial counseling, taxes, food insecurity, health and wellness, transportation, employment, mental wellness, emergency planning, healthcare, and more.
Take our resident services program at Forrest Palms Senior Center, for example.
Seniors come to Forrest Palms looking for affordable housing, but they find so much more than that—they find family. Through a calendar of social events, residents come together in the community room for game night, art classes, and special cultural celebrations that reflect the rich diversity of the community.
“A simple bingo game in our community room seems like just a fun activity, but for many of our seniors, it's about mental stimulation. It's about social interaction. It's about physically moving and engaging with others." – Terri Smyth Canillo, VP Community Impact
Beyond the social events, our seniors at Forrest Palms can use our transportation service when they need to get groceries or visit the doctor. When it comes to navigating Medicaid paperwork, help is available to make sure everything is taken care of to stay secure. Additionally, our health education and wellness workshops focus on managing chronic conditions, nutrition, and exercise.
Forrest Palms, like all of our affordable housing communities, has an annual framework with quarterly initiatives that ensure no resident is ever forgotten or left out. Each quarter brings new opportunities. From learning how to manage finances to staying active and healthy, from exploring new skills to giving back to the community, every senior is encouraged to engage in meaningful ways.
Growing Minds, Growing Futures: Empowering Our Youth
For many kids, the after-school hours can be a time of uncertainty — a gap in the day where they may lack the resources, support, and guidance needed to grow and succeed. But at CHOC Impact, these hours are transformed into opportunities for learning, connection, and growth.
The afterschool program has recently been rebranded as CHOC GEMS Youth Program, with GEMS standing for Growth, Education, and Mentorship for Success. GEMS serves as a safe, nurturing environment where the children of our affordable housing communities can thrive academically and personally.
“Growing up, I lacked those resources—there wasn’t an afterschool program like this in my community. That’s why I’m so passionate about working with the kids now." — Amahirani Reyes, Youth Services Program Manager
The first hour of the program is spent in quiet time, where kids work on their literacy skills. They take advantage of the online reading program Book Nook, a partnership with United Way Capital Region. This helps kids who may be struggling with reading to maintain or even improve their literacy levels, setting them up for success in school and beyond.
The community rooms at GEMS are filled with laughter, concentration, and encouragement as students work on homework, dive into books, and take part in creative enrichment activities like tie-dying and playing basketball.
Youth coordinators serve as tutors available to explain homework and answer questions along the way. For kids growing up in affordable housing communities, this kind of mentorship is invaluable; it provides them the confidence to dream bigger, the support to navigate challenges, and the encouragement to keep pushing forward, even when things get tough.
CHOC Community Impact
Established in 1998, CHOC Impact provides quality resident services for CHOC’s affordable housing communities, serving families, seniors, and adults with comprehensive support needs.
The Community Impact Division uses an equity lens with a community approach to empower youth and families, encourage strong communities, and cultivate collaborative partnerships and services to improve the quality of life for very low to moderate-income families.
Fundamental to this approach is working in collaboration with our residents, property and asset management teams, and community partners. Our collaborative approach helps the Community Impact team assess situational needs and strengths, identify services and programs, implement effective strategies, and measure impact.
Community Impact has extensive experience in providing affordable housing resident services with multiple regulatory agreements, serving multifamily, senior, and supportive housing.
The Community Impact Division utilizes a developed annual framework for services, with quarterly strategies and focus. Our Impact site teams also work hand-in-hand with residents and the community to implement services that empower and educate. Impact staff use a whole family, multi-generational approach, and all services promote well-being and self-sufficiency through a strength-based model.
How You Can Help
At CHOC Impact, we go beyond providing housing — we create safe, thriving communities for youth, seniors, and hardworking families. But we can’t do it alone. This Giving Tuesday, your donation will make a life-changing difference.
Why Your Donation Matters
Your generosity supports essential services like afterschool programs, wellness activities for seniors, and financial counseling for families. With your help, we can provide:
$25 for school supplies for children.
$50 for wellness classes and social activities for seniors.
$100 for emergency rental assistance to keep families housed.
$500 for financial literacy workshops to help families move toward stability.
On this Giving Tuesday, December 3rd, your generosity turns challenges into opportunities and provides hope where it’s needed most.
We will begin accepting donations the week of Monday, November 10th, when our web-based fundraising system goes live.
Thank you for choosing to support CHOC Community Impact!
Founded in 1984, Community Housing Opportunities Corporation (CHOC) is a non-profit affordable housing developer, energy, services and property management provider headquartered in Fairfield, CA; we create and manage equitable communities for individuals, families, seniors, and those with special needs. CHOC believes that economically integrated affordable housing is key to self-sufficiency and achievable with enriching, supportive programs that instill pride in residents, stabilize families, and improve local economies. Visit CHOCHousing.org.