Summit View Brings Amazing Views, Affordable Housing to Formerly Homeless Veterans in Sylmar

Seventy-six-year-old Army Veteran George Elroy Packard, who served in Vietnam as an armored crewman, is one of the new residents. He’s enjoying his studio apartment overlooking the San Gabriel Mountains.

“I love the place and it’s laid out perfectly,” Packard said. “I have the best view.” His unit faces east so he can watch the sun rise.

Packard fell into homelessness after his brother passed away and he lost the house they shared. Through a local senior center he was referred to the Mental Health of America Los Angeles Military Resource Center, and they helped him get connected to VA services. There, staff led him through the process of accessing housing.

Nestled in the foothills, Summit View sits alongside the Hansen Dam recreation area. Locally inspired materials including stucco, wood, concrete, metal and glass were used in construction. The pet-friendly complex has a courtyard with communal benches and extensive landscaping.

It also features a community room, on-site laundry, fitness center, computer lab, BBQ and picnic pavilion, rooftop terrace and a dog park.

“It’s just a gorgeous site,” said Army Veteran Russell Phillips, the HUD-VASH project-based supervisor for VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Phillips has dedicated his career to helping disabled Veterans.

HUD-VASH is a partnership between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that helps to house formerly homeless Veterans. HUD provides housing vouchers that cover a percentage of a Veteran’s rent and VA provides supportive services.

Summit View is a project-based housing site, meaning, the units are reserved for Veterans and the vouchers stay with the units. Project-based sites offer advantages such as no competition from the general housing market, supportive services on site and a cohort of fellow Veterans.

Throughout the Los Angeles region there are currently 53 project-based apartment complexes providing 1,557 units of housing with eight more scheduled to open in 2023, increasing the housing supply by 170 units.

“The management is wonderful, I can’t say enough good things,” said Packard about Holly Van Dyke, the HUD-VASH senior social worker for the Summit View property. “She’s really special. If you need transportation or something like that, she’ll jump on it. She’s very accommodating.”

The property is reserved for Veterans who qualify as homeless and chronically homeless, with Average Median Incomes (AMI) at 40% or 30%, $35,320 and $26,500 per year respectively for a 1-person household. Nine units are accessible for Veterans with disabilities. As of September 2023, 47 Veterans had moved in with an upcoming lease signing planned for the final unit.

“I’ve heard good feedback from the Veterans I’ve spoken with personally,” said Phillips. “They really feel fortunate to move in.”

VA worked with LA Family Housing,  a nonprofit that helps people transition out of homelessness, to create Summit View. Many Mansions, a nonprofit that serves low-income residents of Southern California, is managing the site. LA Family Housing Enrichment Coordinator Irene Zamarripa has hosted many activities for residents including community meetings, money matters courses, game days, birthday celebrations and more.

HUD-VASH is scheduled to host events on site including a VASH trivia game, a Medi-Cal sign-up session, a transportation workshop and a VA benefits workshop.

For Packard, it’s “wonderful” to be at Summit View, he said, and he’s soaking up the sunrises. One recent morning, the sky lit up in pink, orange and yellow. “It was spectacular,” said Packard. “It was almost like God was talking.”

(To find HUD-VASH project-based voucher sites across Greater Los Angeles, Veterans can search vacancies in the area on a special online map.)