PALO ALTO, Calif. , July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- United Hope Builders, a new 501c3 charitable enterprise founded by Pastor Paul Bains and Cheryl Bains , formally announced its partnership with indieDwell as the two parties broke ground on indieDwell's second California factory on July 19 th. The new factory will be located in East Palo Alto , in the San Francisco Bay Area . Guests at the ground breaking included leading philanthropists and charitable foundations who have made financing for the joint venture possible along with local, city, and state leaders.
"This is an important milestone in our efforts to bring more affordable housing to the Bay Area," Pastor Bains said. "We have spent 20 years helping the unhoused find shelter and dignity in our communities through WeHOPE; but we realized that without more housing, we were always going to be fighting uphill. This joint venture factory with indieDwell – which is mission and values-aligned with our organization – will put faster-to-build, less expensive housing products into the hands of affordable housing developers. Coupled with UHB's political network and growing project development team, we plan to move the needle for affordable housing in the Bay Area."
Pete Gombert , the Chairman of indieDwell, joined the ground breaking event. "We are looking forward to opening our doors in East Palo Alto to 100 great new jobs, job training and ownership opportunities for workers in the first quarter of 2023. We should have products in developers' hands by Q2 of next year. indieDwell's innovative steel modules give developers ultimate flexibility and quality, while assuring units will be ready when our partners need them."
United Hope Builders' mission has been supported by some of the peninsula's leading philanthropic organizations, including the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, the Packard Foundation, The Palo Alto Community Foundation, Philanthropic Venture Fund, the Grove Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and a number of private individuals. UHB was granted a $500,000 workforce development grant by the County of San Mateo to support its hiring of marginalized workers. UHB's new factory is also being generously supported by the Uhrig/Vournas Charitable Fund and Anastasia Vournas and Bill Uhrig have arranged for UHB to use the Bay Road site at a nominal cost.
UHB's vision to create the first indieDwell affordable housing factory in Northern California has also been strongly supported by local and state elected officials, by leaders in the faith community, and by local activists who have fought for years to bring more respect and housing to East Palo Alto . UHB was particularly gratified to obtain the full support of Youth United for Community Action (YUCA), which was the group that stood up to the powerful Romic Corporation, the former occupants of the site, ultimately causing Romic to shut down their enterprise in 2007.
"It is a great transformation," commented East Palo Alto Mayor Ruben Abrica . "Seeing something good happen here, something that will benefit the workers and residents of East Palo Alto and also our neighboring cities, fills us with joy. The Bay Area and our unhoused residents need solutions like United Hope Builders and indieDwell."
When completed in the fourth quarter of 2022, the UHB/indieDwell factory will occupy three buildings totaling 57,500 ft2 and have capacity to produce 400 indieDwell modular units a year. The two partners are committed to creating 100 well-paying jobs with great health benefits, job training, profit sharing and ownership for the employees. The project site sits on a little less than 5 acres. It is located at the end of Bay Road near Cooley Landing overlooking the San Francisco Bay.
About United Hope Builders: UHB is a new social enterprise aimed at addressing all three barriers to affordable housing in Northern California – the cost of construction, the availability of land, and political will. UHB is founded by Pastor Paul and Cheryl Bains and is a majority BIPOC managed entity. The Bains also co-founded and manage WeHOPE, a leading provider of shelter and services to the unhoused in the SF Bay Area, headquartered in East Palo Alto serving over 6,000 people annually throughout the Bay Area.
About indieDwell: Founded in 2018, indieDwell is a Public Benefit Corporation and a Certified B Corporation with a mission to manufacture healthy, durable, energy efficient, sustainable modular housing to help solve the affordable housing crisis. The company currently has a manufacturing facility in Pueblo, Colorado , and one under construction in Newport News Virginia and another in Brawley , California.
CONTACT INFORMATION: Elbert Paul , Chief Operating Officer, United Hope Builders 501c3, 1854 Bay Road, East Palo Alto, California , 94303 epaul@unitedhopebuilders.org, (925) 984 4110.
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