Creative Housing & Services (CHS) oversees a diverse portfolio of affordable housing properties for income-qualified adults who are age 62 or older.

Creative Living Plus is a unique initiative that enriches the lives of low-income residents with subsidized senior housing, right where they live, in the affordable housing communities managed by CHS. Creative Living Plus delivers a variety of free services that range from health screenings and workshops to food distribution and language lessons.

Creative Living Plus includes:

• Food programs
• Health and wellness education
• Mental health services
• Social programming

The Episcopal Communities & Services Community Advancement is proud to provide scholarships for ECS employees who wish to further their education. By supporting these educational pursuits, we not only appreciate and honor our employees as individuals, we enrich the culture of our workplace and improve service to residents.

ECS is committed to helping the extraordinary people who fulfill our mission and care for our residents every day. The Employee Education Fund offers financial aid to employees who attend college, take advanced certification classes or simply want to learn.

Donations have helped ECS grant more than $100,000 in scholarships, used for the Go to College Program, Tuition Reimbursement, Tuition Assistance and Education Loan Repayment.

ECS supporters who believe in the power of education have endowed these scholarship funds:

• The Dorothea and Edwin Barnes Scholarship
• The Harold Cook Memorial Scholarship
• The Diana and Jim Doyle Scholarship
• The Nancy and Richard Flores Scholarship
• The Chuck and Mimi Hanzel, Ph.D., Scholarship
• The Ellen Hocking-Keeler Scholarship
• The MonteCedro Anonymous Scholarship
• The Louise O’Flaherty Scholarship
• The Herman Osten Memorial Scholarship
• The Sherman and Marge Telleen Scholarship

Staff from all departments, including dining services, maintenance and nursing have received scholarships for additional education.

Support the Employee Education Fund

We thank all the donors who have shared their resources to help us create a greater community of caring and commitment.

At ECS, our employees look out for each other and provide support for co-workers facing financial difficulties. We do this through the Staff Assistance Fund for Emergencies (S.A.F.E.). Assistance is available for things like medical emergencies and funeral expenses; to support family during disability or situations of domestic violence; and to forestall eviction, foreclosure or suspension of utilities.

SAFE is funded almost entirely through employee contributions, including payroll deductions, cash, and donations of paid time off. SAFE provides up to $1,000 in assistance, which need not be repaid. Over the past eight years, more than 100 employees have received assistance. Our employees contribute approximately $20,000 annually to sustain SAFE.

Our employees’ empathy and altruism are truly inspiring. We are fortunate to have so many giving individuals among our staff and throughout our communities.

Episcopal Communities & Services (ECS) is committed to treating people like people, especially during their end-of-life journey. By Your Side: End-of-Life Vigil Companions teaches volunteer and professional caregivers how to serve as a compassionate presence for people at the end of life.

By Your Side classes cover the practical medical, emotional and spiritual challenges of the end-of-life process. Volunteers who participate in the program provide an invaluable service at a critical time for people who would otherwise die alone.

Donations to The Episcopal Communities & Services Community Advancement have helped ECS train more than 250 By Your Side volunteers, who have given more than 1,000 hours of end-of-life companionship. We thank all of our donors and volunteers.

“The patients have someone who touches them, who listens to them and sits with them. Sometimes our systems dehumanize us and we don’t treat people as people. By Your Side volunteers bring love. They treat people like people.”

– Frederico Gianelli, Chaplain for Palliative Care at Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center

More than 5.3 million people in the United States have Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. Those who live with these conditions gradually become disconnected from their lives. ECS is a certified provider of Music & Memory℠, an innovative program that helps people find renewed meaning and connection through the gift of personalized music. Our trained staff and volunteers supply this program to dementia care residents at The Courtyards in each of our Life Plan communities in Greater Los Angeles and Orange County.

We know that even when memory fails, people remember childhood songs and music from long ago. For those living with memory loss, music can be transformative, helping to restore the ability to converse, socialize and be present.

Families of participants have become enthusiastic supporters, often personally compiling individual playlists for their loved ones. Families treasure the opportunity to reconnect with their loved one.

We thank all of our donors who have shared their resources to help us create a greater community of caring and commitment.

Support the Music & Memory program.

Episcopal Communities & Services (ECS) is a nonprofit organization that owns and operates  Life Plan senior living communities in Southern California: The Canterbury, The Covington and MonteCedro.

Our commitment to our residents does not end if they face financial hardship through no fault of their own. That’s why The Benevolence Fund was created. Thanks to the generosity of Episcopal Communities & Services Community Advancement donors, we help fill a financial gap.

Over the past 10 years, the Benevolence Fund has provided $29.5 million to help residents remain in our communities, enjoying a life that includes friends, joy and security. Our original property, the Scripps Kensington in Alhambra, was home to hundreds of low-income seniors and we will continue to support these seniors as long as needed. Thank you to all our donors who have shared their resources to help us create a greater community of caring and commitment.