NVCSS housing

December 9, 2006

NVCSS building affordable housing in Chico

Breaking ground recently for Jarvis Gardens, a new affordable housing complex in Chico, are, left to right: Don McCreary, chief executive officer of Christian Church Homes of Northern California; Don Lieberman, president of Sunseri Construction; Michael Stauffer, husband of the late Coleen Jarvis; Cynthia Abbott, field office supervisor of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Dennis McLaughlin, former housing manager for the city of Chico; Dr. Stephen Schwartz, president of the board of directors of Jarvis Gardens; and Jan Maurer Watkins, executive director of Northern Valley Catholic Social Service.

By Christine Vovakes
Special to The Herald

Northern Valley Catholic Social Service, marking its 20th anniversary this year, broke ground recently in Chico for Jarvis Gardens.

The 50-unit affordable housing complex for low-income seniors was named after Coleen Jarvis, a local city council member and housing advocate known for championing the needs of the least fortunate. She died of cancer in 2004.

“Coleen Jarvis was the conscience of the city council,” said Dr. Stephen Schwartz. “She had a huge heart for people who weren’t part of the mainstream, and was a very strong voice for the poor and marginalized.”

Schwartz, a retired physician and a permanent deacon at St. John Parish in Chico, is on the board of directors for NVCSS and is also president of the board of directors for Jarvis Gardens.

The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the city of Chico. NVCSS and Christian Church Homes of Northern California partnered in the HUD application process. Completion of the $6.5 million project is scheduled for 2007.

NVCSS began in 1986 with a single employee and volunteer in downtown Redding. The agency now has 1,543 volunteers, a staff of 135, and serves 17,000 unduplicated clients each year. The agency provides low-cost or free mental health, housing, vocational and support services to individuals and families in six Northern California counties: Siskiyou, Shasta, Trinity, Tehama, Glenn and Butte.

Northern Valley Catholic Social Service “has always been a ‘can-do’ organization,” according to Jan Maurer Watkins, executive director.

The service in each county is different, depending on work being done by other groups in the area, Maurer Watkins said.

“But we do have counseling and housing in each of the counties,” she said. “Our goal is always to provide services for unmet needs.”

One of those needs is in the area of mental health. NVCSS supplies services to more than 2,400 clients per year.

With the addition of Jarvis Gardens, the agency has overseen construction and management of 216 units that provide housing for low-income seniors, individuals with developmental disabilities and persons with mental illness.

Maurer Watkins said that she was “thrilled” that the agency was honoring Jarvis by naming the complex after her. “She was definitely a spark plug, and a real advocate for low-income housing,” she said.