BDIPS addresses whole health at Northpointe afterschool program. Tucked inside the Northpointe Apartments is an afterschool program administered by Better Days Integrated Programs (BDIPS) and funded in partnership by Avanath Capital Management LLC and COR CDC, a nonprofit organization based in Irvine, CA. Northpointe's after school program started as just that - a place for kids, ranging from ages 5 to 14, in the community to come in, complete homework and participate in enrichment activities. However, when BDIPS began administering the program, BDIPS CEO Darryl Sewell believed it was important to incorporate some mental health components. After doing a walkthrough in the community, some needs became apparent to the team at BDIPS such as a need for senior wellness checks, food giveaways and access to wellness resources. "Whole health is important. You can't work on mental health without making sure that all the basic needs are met," Sewell explained. "You can't expect someone who's hungry to be effective in a therapy session. A lot of the behaviors that we're seeing in the afterschool program are based upon hunger and lacking other needs." Northpointe is located in North Long Beach and is situated in an area of the city with a population that is 47% Black and 32% Hispanic, with a median household income of $46,339, according to data from the American Community Survey. The median household income is half the amount of the entire city of Long Beach. While BDIPS and COR have made it a priority to address community needs such as food insecurity and access to resources like workforce development, one of the unique aspects of Northpointe's afterschool program is therapy. Hosted on site, the afterschool program offers therapeutic boxing sessions that are administered by trained coaches who teach kids how to address their anger and feelings using a healthy outlet. "I do everything that's physical enrichment at Northpointe," said Renato Cabagna, who works as a staff member and boxing coach in the afterschool program. "We do boxing, jump rope, ladder drills - a bunch of different physical games that are aided at helping the kids express movement and their anger and their fire, in a way." Therapeutic boxing is a form of therapeutic fitness that combines physical activity with mental health interventions such as mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral strategies to promote well-being. Over time, therapeutic boxing can reduce anxiety, depression and stress while improving an individual's mood and self-esteem. "I think the biggest thing for me is to teach the youth how to allow themselves to be angry without suppressing the anger, but expressing it in a healthy manner that is not destructive nor inappropriate towards other people's boundaries," Cabagna said. In addition to therapeutic boxing, kids who participate in the afterschool program also have access to traditional therapy with trained therapists such as Toni Love, the lead therapist in the afterschool program at Northpointe. Love provides individual therapy and also facilitates age-appropriate, creative therapy groups. These groups focus on emotional awareness, healthy ways to communicate, social skills, and setting boundaries. "By offering developmentally appropriate psychoeducation, social-emotional learning and creative outlets for expression like therapeutic boxing, art, and mindfulness practices, we're helping the kids in our community understand the connection between their mind and body," Love said. Among communities of color, a gap in access to mental health resources still remains as a result of affordability, stigma and other socio-economic factors. Sewell explained that one of the biggest barriers they face at Northpointe is the stigma that lives in the homes of people of color. "It's 'what happens in the home, stays in the home,' and they're not willing to share. Our biggest barrier is overcoming the stigma that comes along with it," Sewell said. "Because a lot of people think, 'if my kid receives services, they'll say something to where DCFS or someone will come in and take my kids away,' or you're going to find out that they have domestic violence in the home." In delivering services and administering programs to the community at Northpointe, Sewell and his team have worked relentlessly to engage the community and get buy-in from senior residents. Residents have previously felt betrayed by other organizations who have come in and made false promises. In order to gain the community's trust, BDIPS has hosted several community-based events such as barbecues, movie nights and paint activities.

Avanath Capital Management LLC has acquired Rivers Senior, a 120-unit affordable senior housing community located at 705 Dorothy Adamo Lane in West Sacramento, for a total consideration of $19 mil ($158k/unit) in an off-market transaction.