Wednesday, March 12, 2025 marked the grand opening of Orchard View Gardens, a senior affordable housing community on the St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church campus in Buena Park. ECS is proud to be a partner on this project.

This community is a reflection of Bishop John Harvey Taylor’s vision to use underutilized Episcopal church land for the benefit of the community. Bishop Taylor has pledged to support the construction of similar housing on 25 percent of church campuses in the diocese.

“We started working on this project in 2018, with then-Rector, Reverend Canon Mary P. Trainer,” says Sharon Pewtress, Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of ECS. The church had an orchard garden planted in honor of past members, which was very meaningful to them. “That’s how the community became named Orchard View Gardens.”

The project transformed 1.76 acres of underutilized church land into 66 apartment homes for seniors aged 62 and better who earn less than 60% of the area median income. Twenty percent of the units are reserved for seniors who have experienced homelessness.

Conveniently located near shops, grocery stores, parks and services, Orchard View Gardens features a primary residential apartment building, along with nine single-story Spanish-style casitas that reflect the style of the neighborhood. It also includes a 3,000-square-foot community room and outdoor recreational areas. The Orange County Health Care Agency is providing resident support.

At the opening celebration, the current Rector of St. Joseph’s, Reverend Cindy Voien asked, “Do you realize that when people become disconnected or displaced or even homeless, because housing costs too much, we become a fragmented, damaged community and we stand in need of reconciliation?” She continued, “to house people who are getting edged out of the general housing market is to embrace what we have in common and to bless the entire community.”

“We broke ground in the summer of 2023,” Sharon says, about the time that Reverend Michael Bell began working with ECS. In his role as Director of Housing & Business Development, Rev. Bell focuses on projects such as this one, helping churches navigate the complexities of affordable housing development. This position was created to build on the partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles to fulfill our shared mission to increase available affordable housing in Southern California.

“The funding of my position doesn’t come out of resident fees,” says Reverend Bell. “It is funded from the proceeds of benevolent donations over many years to the organization. We have gratitude for the people who have been charitable to ECS over many decades so that ECS can be generous in helping get more affordable housing built for our neighbors throughout the Los Angeles area.”

The ECS mission began with Deaconess Sophie Miller, whose work helped to establish the first Episcopal Home in Alhambra, CA in 1923, for the purpose of caring for widows of Episcopal priests. “ECS can be proud that we continue to serve our neighbors at all income levels,” Rev. Bell says. He has his own personal connection to the issue of senior housing. Rev. Bells’ father faced potential homelessness later in his life, after a successful career in real estate. His father found a community of affordable housing for seniors, and at the opening event, Rev. Bell reflected how life-changing it was for him to be secure in his housing. “I have to imagine he, in spirit, is really pleased with what has been accomplished here, because it will have an impact on people like him and families like ours that we will never meet.”

“People are excited to learn what ECS is doing with the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. We can be humble and proud at the same time that our reputation is not just in Southern California but when other people in other parts of the country learn what we’re doing, they’re very impressed by the commitment that ECS is making to this work,” Rev. Bell says.

“Both in California and nationwide, seniors are the fastest rising cohort of people at risk of losing access to stable, secure housing,” he says. So ECS is working with several parishes in the diocese to build affordable housing. Rev. Bell supported the recently completed 65-unit Santa Angelina Senior Housing Community at Blessed Sacrament in Placentia, California.

“At any given time, we are in conversation with as many as 10 different Episcopal church congregations,” he says. “For example, we’re working on developments at St. Ambrose in Claremont, St. Mark’s in Downey, St. Mary in Palms of Los Angeles, and St. George’s in Riverside.”

Rev. Bell says, “I’m proud of the patience, endurance, and resolve of all of the partners involved, and particularly of the ECS board because they have so fully supported this initiative. Through the tenacity, the patience, the endurance and the resolve of all these parties, we will continue to bring more safe, affordable housing for more people.”

Rev. Voien says, “together, we’ve created a way around the boiling housing market that tends to scald so many people.”

Sharon Pewtress reflects that, “Orchard View Gardens isn’t just for the benefit of 66 families. It’s for many generations to come. The impact will outlive us all.”

About Us

ECS has been providing exceptional communities and services for seniors from every background, culture and faith in Southern California for more than 100 years. Proudly nonprofit.