PATH Ventures Bike PATH Program
4.02.2019
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LISC StoriesHealth
LA LISC selected PATH Ventures to be a recipient of HUD Section 4 funding in the amount of $20,958 in 2016 as a part of our local Elevating Equity: Health and Housing program. We offered the award to build the capacity of PATH Ventures (PV) to implement the vision of the Bike PATH program, a multi-layered service program designed by PV to build a bicycle culture among the residents of PATH Metro Villas, a permanent supportive housing community.
PATH Metro Villas (PMV) is a re-envisioning and redevelopment of the PATH Mall and an adjacent .85-acre site into a campus community that integrates residential uses and community benefit amenities. The development will create 187 affordable rental homes that serve chronically homeless, homeless and extremely low-income individuals, as well as a federally qualified health clinic, a mental health clinic, and new or renovated spaces for programs serving residents and families and individuals still experiencing homelessness. The development is less than four blocks from the Vermont-Beverly Red Line station, inspiring PATH Ventures to creatively consider the transportation options and opportunities made available at the project.
The Bike PATH includes physical amenities as well as programs intended to support residents in choosing bicycling over other means of transportation. This choice benefits residents and the community as a whole by reducing greenhouse gas production, supporting physical wellness, and expanding access to resources. The Bike PATH’s physical amenities include bicycle parking (over 200 spaces), a Bicycle Learning Center, a practice track, and repair work stations. The programs, which are partially funded for the first three years through the State Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program, will include an on-site bike share program, bicycle safety classes, bicycle maintenance and repair classes, and group rides. Collectively, these resources offer future PMV residents an inspiring opportunity to set and achieve goals and practice responsibility to themselves and their community. PV also aspires to include employees at the PMV campus in the programs as well as neighbors from the surrounding community to support resident integration and community understanding of homelessness. PV plans to sustain The Bike PATH beyond the initial three years of funding by building a team of volunteers, including PV supporters, neighbors, and residents, to continue the programs.
The funds are helping PATH Ventures hire support, manage, and market the Bike PATH program at PATH Metro Villas site.
In Los Angeles, the built environment has an enormous influence on health behaviors and plays a key role in ensuring lifestyle. As such, physical and social environments that are designed to promote good health at home and in our neighborhoods are critical to the success of our communities.
Through this grant we are able to support our partners in identifying sustainable property management strategies and resources for their aging portfolios that preserve quality affordable housing and promote better health outcomes for low-income residents. In this case, we are helping build the developer’s capacity to rehab an old property that creates new community amenities and 187 permanent supportive housing (PSH) units.
This work is supported in part by California Community Foundation.
