Funder Highlight: Opus Community Foundation

LISC is proud to have a partnership with the Opus Community Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Opus Bank that focuses its efforts in the areas of affordable housing, community development, education, financial literacy, community health, and the arts. Their goal is to stimulate economic change, promote reinvestment, inspire philanthropy, and strengthen the communities around them. Through their grant program, Opus Bank supports LISC LA’s work to help develop and preserve quality affordable housing throughout Southern California.

By fueling LISC LA asset management trainings, Opus Foundation contributes to the design and construction of affordable housing structures like Parc Derian Apartments developed by Innovative Housing Opportunities (IHO).  Parc Derian exemplifies IHO’s vision of a vibrant community offering exceptional architectural design and amenities that make the community spectacular inside and out, and is the 2019 Gold Nugget Merit Award winner in the category “Affordable Housing Community – 30-60 du/acre.”

These types of housing function as hubs of citizen productivity and revitalization. The impetus to improve underserved communities and lift people from poverty arises from recognizing that every individual holds the potential to look beyond the stark reality of their immediate circumstances. In this way, the end product of the housing pathway Opus Bank sponsors is both a tangible shelter for at-risk individuals and a symbol of empowerment.

Parc Derian Apartments, which celebrated its grand opening in 2018, is an 80-unit urban infill affordable housing community located in the heart of the Irvine Business Complex. It is a highly diverse community home to workforce families, veterans, formerly homeless, and developmentally disabled residents.

Given the regional housing affordability and homelessness crisis, LISC LA believes that building the capacity of the affordable housing field to both effectively produce and preserve housing must be a top priority. Since our inception, affordable housing preservation and development has been at the core of our work. LISC LA has leveraged $2.1 billion and deployed $855 million in grants and loans to support the development of over 10,000 affordable housing units and 1.9 million square feet of commercial space across the greater Los Angeles region, stabilizing both individual families and whole communities. With the support of partners like Opus Bank, we will continue to deploy flexible capital and effective trainings for organizations like IHO in order to provide safe and affordable housing for those who need it most.