[Kaiser Permanente] – In celebration of National Volunteer week, leaders and staff from Kaiser Permanente’s Panorama City Medical Center and Santa Clarita medical offices worked alongside Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valleys on Saturday, April 18, to “Team Build” 78 homes for low-income veterans and their families.

“We are thrilled to partner with Habitat for Humanity.  We have a commitment to build thriving communities by reaching beyond the walls of our Kaiser Permanente facilities,” said Dennis C. Benton, Kaiser Permanente Panorama City CEO and executive director. “We know that people prosper in vibrant living environments. Volunteerism and community service are critical components to building healthy and sustainable communities in all the areas we serve.”

Benton was joined by Kaiser Permanente Panorama City CFO Karla Valle-Smith and Santa Clarita Physician-In-Charge David Wong, MD, along with approximately 20 Kaiser Permanente volunteers.

The Enriched Neighborhood piloted by Habitat for Humanity SF/SCV has been recognized by the California Department of Veterans Affairs as a CalVet REN (Residential Enriched Neighborhood). This new veteran community is located on Centre Pointe Parkway in Santa Clarita and will include three and four-bedroom homes, an urban garden, and a sensory integration playground. In addition, Habitat for Humanity SF/SCV and its community partners will deliver an array of social services to ensure veterans achieve self-sufficiency and can successfully integrate back into civilian life. These services include post-traumatic stress counseling, art workshops for trauma victims, financial literacy training, and much more.

“We are committed to providing our nation’s heroes and their families with a gateway to the American Dream of homeownership,” said Donna Deutchman, CEO, Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valleys. “And this is more than just building houses and handing over the keys.  Our Enriched Neighborhood model was designed to help veterans thrive and overcome some of the social and economic challenges that they now struggle with since completing their military careers. We are thrilled that Kaiser Permanente has joined our efforts to build safe and affordable permanent housing for veterans who might otherwise be homeless in North Los Angeles County.”

Kaiser Permanente’s 70 year mission to support and improve the health of communities and families is evident in the $62,626 in grants provided to Santa Clarita Valley nonprofits in 2014-2015.  Members also benefit from the state-of-the-art medical offices located at 27107 Tourney Rd. and 26415 Carl Boyer Drive. In honor of National Volunteer Week, Kaiser Permanente leaders, physicians and staff were more than willing to roll up their sleeves to make a difference in the lives of local heroes who have served in the armed forces.

To learn more about Kaiser Permanente’s work with local communities, go to http://www.community.kp.org/. To learn more about Habitat for Humanity, please visit: http://www.habitat.org.

About Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valleys was founded in 1990 as an affiliate for Habitat of Humanity International. They are a locally run and independent 501(c) (3) non-profit organization serving North Los Angeles City and County.  Their mission is to lift low-income working civilian and veteran families out of substandard housing and offer them a gateway to the American Dream of homeownership so they can build brighter economic futures.

To date, they have built 271 homes and are among the top 5 percent of Habitat affiliates nationwide to reach this goal. To learn more about their programs and services please visit www.humanityca.org.

About Kaiser Permanente Santa Clarita & Panorama City

Opened in 1952, Kaiser Permanente Panorama City serves more than 200,000 members in the East San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. For more information, go to: kp.org/santaclarita, and follow us on Twitter @KPPanoramaCity.

About Kaiser Permanente Southern California

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high quality, affordable health care services to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 3.8 million members in Southern California. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information follow us on twitter; @KPSCALNews or go to: www.kp.org/share.

From Habitat for Humanity:

Meet the Peckinpaughs

Alex Peckinpaugh honorably served our country for 8 years in the United States Marine Corps, joining immediately after graduating from high school.  In 2004 he left for his first of two tours in Iraq, which happened to be a very critical time in the country’s history – newly freed Iraqi citizens were holding their first elections.  Alex’s unit was tasked with ensuring the security of the Al Asad Air Base and performing several house to house patrols throughout the region.  “Obviously it was a dangerous environment,” Alex shared, “but I was eager and ready to be outside the “wire” and get the job done while experiencing the culture and people of Iraq.”

After returning home from his second tour of duty in 2008, Alex reunited with his family and his girlfriend at the time, Laura, who is now his wife.  He separated from the military in 2010 and struggled to find employment in the volatile job market. His wife Laura had just given birth to their son, Logan, and the family was barely surviving on Alex’s minimum wage part-time jobs. “My family and I cut into our savings every month and slowly began to max out our credit cards.” Alex says.  “I applied to the LAPD and passed all of their tests in just under four months, only to get rejected due to a hiring freeze. Eventually we were forced to move out of our apartment and live with my mother just to stay afloat.”

Through it all, Alex and Laura persevered and started getting their lives back on track. Alex now has a great management position at AT&T, and the family was able to move out of his mother’s home and into a rental. He and Laura have expanded their family and now have three beautiful children: Logan, Brianna, and Kaylynne.  There is just one thing missing…a home of their own. Alex openly shared his vision and goals for his family when he first approached Habitat and applied for a home in our Santa Clarita Enriched Neighborhood®.  “It’s always been our dream to own our own house in a decent neighborhood with good quality schools for our children. While we have come a long way from where we used to be, we still have debt and weren’t sure if we could become homeowners. With this opportunity through CalVet and Habitat for Humanity, we are working on retiring our debt and will own our first home!”

Laura echoed Alex’s sentiments, expressing what owning a home means to the Peckinpaugh family.  “Having the chance to own our own home is a miracle. We never thought it would’ve been possible at this point in our lives. Owning a home and raising our children in it is a dream come true. We feel very blessed and thankful for this opportunity!”