Our speaker was Jennifer Litwak, President and CEO of PEP Housing
Our guest speaker last week was Jennifer Litwak, President and CEO of PEP Housing. She supervised the development and renovation of over 8,882 units of affordable housing nationwide. In 2024, Jennifer was selected by the North Bay Business Journal for Forty Under 40. Jennifer comes from San Diego after being recruited through the help of LEAP Solutions. She has an extensive biography that was covered in last week's Club Bulletin.
Jennifer spoke about the history of PEP being in our community for 46 years. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that recently has earned 2 awards from the North Bay Business Journal for Sustainability and Environmentalism. They are the first senior living nonprofit in California to have a master plan for aging. There is a great need for PEP Housing and others who provide this type of service. The average rent charged is 30% of the average 76-year-old senior's income. This has come down to $402/mo for someone making $15k per year. 50% of unhoused in California are seniors over 62 years old. Each government funded project costs $30m for renovating an existing building or $34m for building one from the ground up. There is currently a 7-year waitlist for each project. Jennifer described projects that have opened or will open. She presented a map of Santa Rosa's affordable housing that demonstrates just how vast the need is.
Thank you, Jennifer, for bringing us up to speed on all the work that is being done to help our seniors with their housing needs in our community.
Click HERE to see a limited time recording of Jennifer's presentation.
