2025 RCLCO Foundation Affordable Housing Leadership Award

January 28, 2025

The RCLCO Foundation is pleased to announce the recipient of its 2025 Affordable Housing Leadership Award: Southern California-based Community Corporation of Santa Monica.

The RCLCO Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, supports and advances initiatives to preserve and increase affordable housing and prevent homelessness. The Award recognizes organizations performing work aligned with this mission in the local communities where RCLCO has offices. Based only three miles from RCLCO’s Los Angeles office, Community Corp., will receive a $10,000 grant from the Foundation to be used for affordable housing development and support.

Community Corp. restores, builds, and manages affordable housing properties that help to make Santa Monica a more inclusive, caring, and environmentally sustainable city.  Founded  40 years ago, the nonprofit today provides high-quality affordable rentals to more than 2,000 low-income households in Santa Monica, California (almost 5% of the City’s total households) and supports residents of its communities with afterschool programs and wellness activities onsite at its properties, green community initiatives, and more. Importantly, with several new construction projects in planning and construction phases, Community Corp. will be adding 150+ affordable housing units to an area known for exceptionally high housing costs.

RCLCO was founded in Southern California and this choice pays tribute to its local roots. The selection of the Community Corp. as the inaugural Affordable Housing Leadership Award winner also recognizes long-term RCLCO managing director (now emeritus) Bob Gardner’s long track record of leadership with and passion for the organization.

With the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles and destruction of an estimated 12,000 homes and other structures, the existing housing shortage and need for affordable housing will likely be dramatically exacerbated in a county that already has more than 75,000 homeless residents. The work of organizations like Community Corp. will be core to the region’s recovery.

“Our mission of improving lives and neighborhoods has never been more critically needed,” shares Executive Director Tara Barauskas, “we started 2025 doing our best to support residents during the devastating fire situation. As of [January 9th], two buildings have been evacuated so we set up an evacuation center for people that didn’t have a place to sleep or shower. Our work goes beyond providing housing, we support residents whenever we can. During the pandemic we provided food aid, vaccinations, transportation aid – whatever we could. So our mindset is very much supporting the gaps our residents face or partnering with other nonprofits to support any additional challenges they have. Our plan in 2025 is to build more affordable housing in Santa Monica and Culver City, and to open our new Red Tail Crossing building in Westchester. We will apply for funding for several other developments so that we can continue to provide additional housing for lower income people in higher resource neighborhoods.”

Bob Gardner, Treasurer of the nonprofit, weighed in with his own personal experience: “Community Corporation of Santa Monica is an award-winning organization driven by a powerful mission to enrich the community through the development and operation of affordable housing. I’ve seen firsthand how this organization impacts people’s lives with quality housing, and as a Board member I am continually energized by the dedication and compassion of a staff so dedicated to that purpose.”

The RCLCO Foundation board unanimously determined that the Community Corp. is a deserving first recipient of the Affordable Housing Leadership Award and looks forward to following the positive impacts it has on the greater Santa Monica and Los Angeles community. Click here to learn more about the Community Corporation of Santa Monica.

Bob Garner Headshot

Robert Gardner – Practitioner Highlight

Executive Committee at Large; Treasurer

Bob has served as a Community Corporation Board member since 2005 and currently serves on its Executive Committee as Treasurer. He is a long-time Santa Monica resident and is passionate about helping address Los Angeles’ housing challenges. Bob also engages in community service as a current member of ULI/Los Angeles’ Technical Assistance Panel Committee, having chaired that committee in the past. In addition, he is a long-standing volunteer at Chrysalis in Los Angeles, a non-profit organization providing job readiness programs to individuals seeking to reconnect to the workforce and get on a path to self-sufficiency.

As Managing Director Emeritus in RCLCO’s Los Angeles office, Bob has over 40 years of professional experience providing market and financial feasibility evaluations, and fiscal and economic assessments of commercial and residential real estate projects for both private and public sector clients. RCLCO is proud to also honor Bob’s contributions to Community Corp., and his contribution to RCLCO over more than four decades.

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