The Community Practice Lab (CPL) has published the 2023 Orange County Home Preservation Coalition (OCHPC) Program Evaluation. Integrating a racial equity lens, the report describes the OCHPC and its goals, details program evaluation findings, and outlines recommendations for OCHPC to enhance the delivery of home preservation services within Orange County.
The Orange County Home Preservation Coalition (OCHPC) is a collaborative of organizations that provide home repairs and modifications to Orange County residents. The OCHPC seeks to increase communication and collaboration among organizations to decrease burden on clients and service seekers, particularly older adults, people of color, low-income residents, and people with disabilities.
The 2023 OCHPC Program Evaluation found the OCHPC has more than doubled households connecting with the coalition since 2021 and is successfully reaching Orange County homeowners who are low-income, Black, and/or older adults. The evaluation identifies Asian and Latine homeowners in Orange County as groups that are currently underserved.
“OCHPC is clear on its goal to reduce disparities in home quality and health among households of color in Orange County. We therefore used a lens of racial equity to frame our approach to OCHPC data collection, analysis, and interpretation of findings. This approach recognizes that data are not neutral and seeks to reduce harm to communities of color caused by misinterpretation, misuse, or abuse of data,” said Jen Farris, the report’s author.
Jen Farris, a dual degree Master of City and Regional Planning and Master in Public Health graduate student, produced the Orange County evaluation as the final deliverable of a summer 2023 practicum with the CPL. As part of the practicum, supervised by CPL Primary Lead Dr. Ryan Lavalley, Farris also produced a Weatherization Memo to explore the relationship between weatherization (home modifications to insulate, control moisture, reduce air leakage, improve ventilation, and increase energy efficiency) and health outcomes, especially for older adults.
Both the 2023 Program Evaluation and the Weatherization Memo will inform the OCHPC’s future home repair work and delivery of weatherization projects.
“We know that housing is a key social determinant of health—housing affordability, stability, quality, safety, and environment all affect residents’ physical and mental health,” said Erica Cormack, Orange County housing community development program manager. “Jen’s 2023 report helps us understand which residents our services are reaching and identify barriers to service that we can work to improve. Her work is invaluable to our mission of helping Orange County residents live comfortably and safely.”