Dear Culver City: Jubilo Village is Good for Culver City

By Disa Lindgren

EDITOR'S NOTE: This piece and others in the "Dear Culver City" series are editorial pieces submitted by sources unaffiliated with Culver Crescent. The sentiments expressed in these articles do not represent or confirm the stance or opinions of Culver Crescent or any of its writers.

"Charity is no substitute for justice. If we never challenge a social order that allows some to accumulate wealth — even if they decide to help the less fortunate — while others are short-changed, then even acts of kindness end up supporting unjust arrangements. We must never ignore the injustices that make charity necessary or the inequalities that make it possible." –Michael Eric Dyson  

Like many religious communities, Culver-Palms United Methodist Church (CPUMC) is called to share what we have with others. We see ourselves as "belonging to one another," so we have provided meals to those living with food insecurity, engaged in humanitarian relief work, and looked for ways to embrace sustainability in recognition of our interdependence with all creation.

We are a diverse congregation — welcoming, affirming, and inclusive — and the UMC Social Principles call us to love the entire human family, to work for social and economic justice, against LGBTQIA+ hatred, for immigrant rights and protections, and for peace, equity, and respect for everyone.

All decent people have a lot more to do to successfully challenge and end white supremacist nationalism, racism, sexism, ableism and neuro ableism, classism and the vilification of poor folks, heterosexism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and xenophobia because these ideologies and systems of oppression continue to cause deep harm.

What's this got to do with Jubilo Village? Let's look at its genesis. In July 2016, a founding board member of Upward Bound House (UBH) contacted the pastor of CPUMC, asking if the church would consider building affordable housing at 4464 Sepulveda Blvd. in Culver City.

UBH Board Member Booker Pearson came to CPUMC with his request because the church sits on a large 1.4-acre property. He knew that people staying at Upward Bound House, the only shelter for unhoused families on the Westside of Los Angeles, have long been unable to find permanent affordable housing in Culver City after their stay there.

Upward Bound House families have been forced to look for homes as far away as Lancaster or Palmdale to find rentals within their means. This has seriously undermined the valuable strides parents, and children have made while putting down roots here — securing jobs, enrolling their children in Culver City schools and child care programs, receiving valuable supportive services and resources, and making friends — in other words, developing a meaningful sense of community after experiencing the instability and trauma of homelessness.

After a lengthy period of research and discernment, the CPUMC congregation decided to pursue Booker Pearson's recommendation to develop permanent affordable housing on the church property because the church values care for the community and because there is a crying need to address the affordable housing crisis in Culver City.

CPUMC has learned that other faith communities in Los Angeles County and across the country are increasingly choosing to use their land for affordable housing. As a church founded in 1883 and rooted in opposition to slavery, CPUMC has long committed to charity and justice work. Jubilo Village provides a valuable opportunity for the church to use its land to further housing justice.

Growing income inequality and historic policies of racial exclusion have been significant drivers of the lack of affordable housing we face today. Housing is a must-have for human well-being; the many people in Culver City who are unhoused or living with severe rent burdens in this high-resource community demand our commitment to address the need.

Over six years ago, CPUMC entered into a partnership with Community Corp. of Santa Monica (Community Corp.), a highly regarded non-profit organization dedicated to building and managing permanent, affordable housing for people of modest means. With the support of the California-Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church, CPUMC agreed to lease 2/3 of its property to Community Corp. long term, which means that Jubilo Village will provide homes to families, couples, and individuals for at least 75 years (with the ability to renew).

The ground lease will enable the church to continue serving the wider community and rebuild its facilities on a smaller footprint to accommodate the Jubilo Village apartments. Both the church and Community Corp. are dedicated to showing care for our neighbors and to furthering the cause of social justice by building permanent affordable housing.

The church will retain ownership of the land, and Community Corp. will build and manage Jubilo Village according to the stringent federal, state, county, and local requirements upon which public funding is contingent. CPUMC will continue to make the new church facilities available to the community for programs and events like 12-step groups, a Free Farmers market, local philanthropic organizations, youth sports activities, blood drives, musical and theatrical performances, as a polling place, other churches (including a Spanish language congregation), and for weddings and celebrations of life.

The church development team met with city staff first in 2019, asking where the need for affordable housing was greatest: "Was the acute local housing shortage hitting seniors hardest? Veterans? Foster youth who have run away or aged out of care? People with developmental disabilities? Folks with mental illness? Individuals with substance abuse issues? Unhoused persons?"

City staff affirmed that there was a need for affordable housing for all groups and encouraged the church to pursue the development of permanent affordable housing. After several meetings with the project architect, CPUMC learned that building 35 apartments in the rear parking lot alone would not be financially feasible. The church made the decision to raze all existing buildings so that more people in need of affordable housing could benefit from the development.

A total of five community meetings were held, one specifically for our near neighbors and the other four with people in the surrounding community, even though the city required just three. Because of the community input provided, the plans for Jubilo Village were improved.

Jubilo Village is worthy of support, Culver City!

The loan that our city council voted to include in the budget being considered for the upcoming fiscal year is essential for Jubilo Village to become a reality. Embracing Jubilo Village is a meaningful way for Culver City to begin to address our city's past failure to prioritize the construction of permanent, affordable housing.

As Anglican Bishop and theologian Desmond Tutu said, "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."

Please join us in urging the Culver City Council to approve the allocation for Jubilo Village this coming Monday at 7 p.m. in the Mike Balkman Council Chambers at City Hall, 9770 Culver Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232.

Disa Lindgren is the Chairperson of Culver-Palms United Methodist Church Council, the church working with developer Community Corporation of Santa Monica on the Jubilo Village project.