Leasing Specialist

BDIPS and Avanath Capital LLC partner to host annual back-to-school community event at Baldwin Village. With the school year set to begin in just a few weeks, Better Days Integrated Programs (BDIPS) and Avanath Capital LLC have partnered to host an annual back-to-school community event for the residents of Acclaim at Baldwin Village in Los Angeles on August 8. Nearly three years ago, Avanath first partnered with BDIPS to offer an after-school program at Northpointe Apartments in Long Beach, CA. That partnership has since expanded to offering other programs focused on mental health and workforce development at Baldwin Village. "At Avanath, we do believe that housing stability extends beyond providing our residents a quality unit to live in," said Kaniesha Washington, Director of Resident Services for Avanath. "We do offer affordable housing, but we also believe that when we provide those programs and resources, we keep our residents housed, but also satisfied with where they are living." According to Washington, partnerships like the one between Avanath and BDIPS help strengthen the communities that live in the region. Community-based festivities like the back-to-school event are examples of community investment and providing key resources to residents. "For many families, the beginning of the school year is usually one of the most expensive times of the year. Events like these help reduce financial stress and ensure the residents have the supplies that need to start the year prepared and confident to take on the challenge of K-12 education," Washington said. The event will provide the children with free backpacks and school supplies. There will also be free food and game stations for everyone to enjoy. Those who attend the event will also be entered into a raffle to win prizes, and learn more about the resources at their disposal. BDIPS CEO Darryl Sewell said that he hopes residents who attend the event feel seen and understand that BDIPS is an organization that cares. As a community-focused mental health organization, BDIPS offers a variety of programs, virtual support groups and services that support whole health. "We see them and we support them," Sewell said. "I hope they understand that we do care and that we are a resource for them." Washington shared that one of Avanath's accomplished goals is being able to partner with an organization that shares a commitment to empowering the residents and creating opportunities that improve their quality of life. "Those strong community partnerships help connect residents with a lot of the programs that are needed to either keep them housed or to move them beyond where they are currently sitting at from a social economic standpoint," Washington said. As Avanath and BDIPS work to strengthen their partnership to further support the communities of Baldwin Village, the two organizations are hoping to develop an after school program at the site. "I would definitely love to see an after school program here. We are surrounded by three schools within our property, and we see so many youth and so many large families in this community," said Cyrina Garcia, Avanath Resident Service Coordinator at Baldwin Village. Garcia explained that events and programs that focus on youth bring out the community and is something she hopes Avanath can build on to continue to strengthen their relationship with the community. "I think our goal with this back-to-school event, aside from being able to provide resources for families, is truly to keep that open line of communication. We want them to know that we're here for them. If they need anything, we want them to feel comfortable and welcome enough to come in the office and talk to us and reach out to me," Garcia said. The Baldwin Village back-to-school event will be hosted at the Baldwin Village apartments on Saturday, August 8 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. The community-based event is funded by Avanath Capital LLC and hosted in partnership with BDIPS.

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.