On Friday, 28 people got to move in to their new homes at Vera Cruz Village.

The Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara development at 116 E. Cota St. is designed for anyone who is transitioning out of homelessness or are at risk of homelessness.

For one woman, who gave her name as Paulina K., moving into Vera Cruz Village meant she could have her first peaceful night of sleep in seven years.

She suffers through sleep apnea and has spent the past seven years going from staying with friends, her son and in her RV. Two weeks ago, she got the news that she would be able to move into Vera Cruz Village.

“It’s a new beginning,” she said. “It’s a chance to float above water; I was sinking.”

Staying in her RV became too difficult for her as time went on. The upkeep became too much and she no longer felt safe staying in the RV. During her last night in it, she realized it had become infested with rats.

She said the opportunity to live at Vera Cruz is what she needs to get back on her feet.

“I couldn’t have sunk any lower from where I was,” she said. “This couldn’t be coming at a better time.”

She plans to use it as an opportunity to get back to work. After being her father’s caretaker, she was inspired to pursue nursing and plans to work toward a license to be a registered nurse.

On average, the Vera Cruz Village units are 435 square feet and already have beds, tables, chairs and side tables. There’s a common courtyard, a community room, a laundry room on every floor, an outdoor deck, 15 parking spots and one bike spot per unit. There also will be free Internet services per unit.

The project broke ground 16 months ago.

“It feels like a ton of bricks off of our shoulders,” Rob Fredericks, Housing Authority executive director and CEO, said Thursday about Vera Cruz Village opening. “It’s heartwarming to know that people today, without a home, 28 of them tomorrow will have a home.”

Ten years ago, the Cota Street property was going to be a market-rate apartment building with 15 two-bedroom units. Then three years ago, when the developer got stalled in the entitlement process, they agreed to sell the property to HACSB, according to Fredericks.

“The city is very favorable to affordable housing,” Fredericks told Noozhawk. “Their entitlement process is hard whether you’re an affordable housing developer or market-rate developer, but at the end of the day, you go through that process and you end up getting beautiful and functional buildings.” 

HACSB didn’t want to waste time designing a new exterior, so it kept the approved design and turned the 15 studios into 28 studios and a one-bedroom apartment for the manager, he said.

According to Fredericks, 4,000 households in Santa Barbara are on the waitlist to get into low-income and affordable housing. The households range from young families to single elderly residents. 

“Santa Barbara is one of the highest-cost living areas in the world,” Fredericks told Noozhawk. “Low-income individuals are really being crushed right now with the price of rentals and just an unending demand.”

Santa Barbara has a lot of elderly residents who have retired and are struggling to live on a fixed income. There are also many working families who struggle to earn a living wage, he said.

“Even aside from low-income households, we have moderate- to middle-income earners that can’t afford to live here,” Fredericks said. “The city and all sorts of other organizations are having a hard time recruiting for positions because people can’t afford to live here in Santa Barbara.”

The building will have on-site supportive services, including health and wellness classes and case management for residents.