IHO Welcomes First Residents to Affordable Housing Community for Transitional Age Youth in Riverside

Innovative Housing Opportunities (IHO), one of California’s leading affordable housing developers, has opened its latest affordable housing community in the City of Riverside. Called The Aspire, the community, at the corner of 3rd Street and Fairmount Boulevard, features 33 fully furnished housing units for transitional age youth including young people aging out of the foster care system.

The Aspire will offer onsite educational wraparound services and programs for its new residents, provided by the California Family Life Center. This nonprofit organization has been serving foster youth in the Riverside area for over 40 years. The development is also a collaboration with the Riverside Community College District. Some of the services provided include academic, career, and financial aid counseling, as well as job placement assistance.

“We envisioned The Aspire as a launchpad to equip these young people with the tools to chart a path for ongoing personal and economic success. Within this community we can provide stability and safety as well as help our resident to plan for and pursue their future goals,” said IHO President and CEO Rochelle Mills.

The Aspire is also a significant aspect of Riverside Mayor Lock Dawson’s Mayor’s Challenge to End Youth Homelessness. When the program was launched in 2023, city leaders noted that youth who are homeless are more than five times more likely to be chronically homeless as adults, and foster youth are especially vulnerable.

“No young person should have to worry about shelter, or sleep on the streets when they should be attending school or becoming a member of our workforce,” Lock Dawson said. “We did it for veterans, and now we can do it for our youth.”

The Aspire’s 33 furnished, one-bedroom units are approximately 450 square feet in size with a patio/deck. Community amenities include an interior courtyard, roof terrace, communal living room, and public art. The Aspire is in a walkable neighborhood close to the downtown area with access to transit and employment, recreation, retail, and cultural offerings.

“The Aspire is our first development intended specifically for foster youth transitioning out of the system. We hope to make this development replicable and scalable so that we can continue to serve this at-risk population,” added Mills.

According to the National Foster Youth Institute, housing instability makes it more difficult to complete higher education and maintain steady employment. About 25% of former foster youth experience homelessness within four years of being emancipated from the system at age 18, according to the institute. Nationally, 50% of people who experience homelessness have spent time in foster care.  

The $25 million Aspire development was funded with Housing Authority funds from the City of Riverside, project-based housing choice vouchers from Riverside County and California’s Housing and Community Development/Multifamily Housing Program.

Including The Aspire, IHO has nine properties with a total of 672 affordable housing units under management in Southern California.