Introduction—Ashby Recreation and Community Housing (ARCH) is a project of Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program (BORP) and the East Bay Supportive Housing Collaborative (EBSHC). We have formed this collaboration to build a world-class, universally designed recreation facility coupled with urgently needed affordable housing on the east parking lot of the Ashby BART station (behind the Ed Roberts Campus). BORP has more than 45 years of providing adaptive sports, fitness, and recreation programming for people with disabilities in the East Bay. EBSHC advocates for permanent supportive housing for persons with mental illness.
The entire ARCH project will be built using universal/inclusive design and green building principles. The recreational facility will leverage public transit and existing services at the Ed Roberts Campus to provide broad recreational access to both the disability and greater communities. The housing component will be deeply affordable to the extent possible, 100% accessible, and offer the right of return to displaced South Berkeley residents to the extent allowed by law.
Recreation, Wellness, & Aquatics Center—For individuals without disabilities, there are numerous opportunities to engage in physical fitness and recreation activities every day. For people with disabilities, however, access to sports, fitness, and recreation is severely limited or non-existent, making it almost impossible for them to enjoy the well-documented health and quality-of-life benefits that come from these activities. The envisioned center will be more than an athletic facility; it will be a community hub, available for use by everyone, with widespread community benefit.
The Housing Component—There is a desperate need in Alameda County for housing at the extremely low-income (ELI) level. Most persons at this level of income who live with mental illness can live successfully in various settings, if they are provided with appropriate, on-site services. ARCH would set aside a significant number of units at ELI for persons with mental illness along with the on-site services necessary for their care and well-being. Other units, affordable at other levels of AMI, would accommodate residents who do not have mental illness. This integrated model has proven highly successful in other locations.
Overall—ARCH meets BART’s five transit-oriented development goals: affordable housing, community benefit, sustainability, ridership, and open space. It also meets the goals set forth in the Vision and Priorities of Berkeley’s Community Advisory Group.
ARCH is a truly visionary project that would expand and integrate resources for persons with disabilities, both physical or mental. Commitment to the disability community has already been established as a priority in our city by the nationally recognized work being done at the Ed Roberts Campus (ERC). But we believe that ARCH would not only further ERC’s mission, it would be a model for inclusive community by showing that, with the right support, persons with mental illness can experience a quality of life that affords dignity, ongoing recovery, and meaningful participation in community.
