Our Mission

To provide safe and livable neighborhoods in Long Beach by promoting, developing, and preserving decent, safe and affordable housing for the very low-, low- and moderate-income residents of Long Beach.

Our Structure

The LBHDC was established by the City of Long Beach on July 25, 1989. The LBHDC is a California non-profit public benefit corporation governed by a board comprised of 11 members appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council. The Board sets policy and provides direction to Housing Services staff in acquiring, rehabilitating, sponsoring, and constructing affordable housing. The City Council approves the LBHDC's bylaws and changes thereto, and the City provides all staff and administrative support, including most of the LBHDC's annual funding.

Dennis J. Thys,
Director, Department of Community Development

Dennis Thys is the Director of the Department of Community Development for the City of Long Beach, and serves as President of The Long Beach Housing Development Company.

A native of Long Beach, Dennis has worked twenty eight years for the City in a number of capacities, including Neighborhood Services Bureau Manager, Training and Employment Development Officer, Redevelopment Project Manager, and as a Community Development Analyst.

He is actively involved in working with neighborhood associations and residents for positive community change through the City of Long Beach Neighborhood Improvement Strategy.  He coordinates an interdepartmental team approach to neighborhood problem solving in partnership with neighborhood residents.  He manages a number of innovative services including the Nonprofit Assistance, Neighborhood Leadership, Community Code Enforcement Programs and Rehabilitation Programs.

Dennis is also a member of several community service organizations, including the Nonprofit Partnership and the Community Health Council.

Dennis has a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Community/Clinical Psychology, and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) Degree.


Ellie Tolentino, Manager Housing Services Bureau & Vice President,
Long Beach Housing Development Company

“Long Beach has diverse housing alternatives, but finding an affordable home remains a challenge for many. Increasing home prices and rents have made it difficult for many households to afford decent homes. That's where we come in.

In cooperation with the nonprofit corporation, The Long Beach Housing Development Company, it's our job to make affordable housing happen in Long Beach. We offer first-time home-buyer assistance programs, rehabilitation loans to property owners, as well as financial assistance to developers so that they may build new affordable housing units or acquire and improve existing units. The City of Long Beach is committed to facilitating the availability of decent and affordable housing for its residents and workforce. Please click on the programs to the left to learn more about how we may be able to assist you.”

Ellie Tolentino is the Manager of the Housing Services Bureau of the City of Long Beach. She also serves as Vice President of The Long Beach Housing Development Company.

Ellie has been with the City of Long Beach for twenty six years, and has spent most of that time with the Department of Community Development, serving as Administrative Analyst, Development Project Manager, Financial Services Officer, Housing Operations Officer, and Housing Services Bureau Manager.

She is responsible for the effective implementation of City’s affordable housing policy, development of new housing initiatives, coordination with The Long Beach Housing Development Company, and management of a large pool of City resources.

Ellie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a major in Financial Management, and has taken courses leading to a Master’s degree in Business Administration. She also has been certified as Public Housing Manager by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials.


Board Members

 
Patrick Brown
Chair of LBHDC Board

Term Began 7/1/03
Kevin Cwayna, M.D.
Term Began 7/1/06
Jonathan Gotz
Term Began 7/1/00

Jonathan Gotz was born and raised in Long Beach and currently owns the Gotz Insurance Agency located in Bixby Knolls.  He has been and is currently involved in many different civic organizations around the city and has been proud to volunteer for the Community Development Department since 1999.

Michael McCarthy
Term Began 7/1/04
Stacy W. McDaniel
Term Began 7/1/07

Risk to Reward’s founder and President, Stacy McDaniel, was formerly General Counsel and Risk Manager to John Laing Homes,   a regional homebuilder nationally recognized for the quality of its homes and its premier customer service.  Prior to her position with Laing, Ms. McDaniel was employed by Lockton Insurance Brokers as a specialist in risk management and claims handling, where her primary clients were in the homebuilding industry.  

Ms. McDaniel graduated from UCLA, with her Bachelor of Arts degree in History, and obtained her law degree from Loyola Law School.  In addition to her legal and risk management expertise, Ms. McDaniel holds an Associate in Risk Management (“ARM”) accreditation from the Insurance Institute of America, a California real estate broker’s license, and California and Colorado property and casualty broker’s licenses.  Ms. McDaniel lectures frequently for legal, insurance and construction industry gatherings.

 

Kristie Kinney Pabst
Term Began 7/1/06

Kristie and her husband, George founded Pabst, Kinney & Associates, a full service real estate brokerage, property management and investment company in 1981. She brings to the Board over 30 years of business experience in numerous aspects of the real estate industry.  She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce and Opportunity Schools. She is a past president of the Long Beach Association of Realtors. Kristie is very involved in many areas within the Long Beach community.

 

Anna Ulaszewski
Term Began 11/1/08

Anna Ulaszewski worked at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard until its closure in 1997.  She was the BRAC Environment Coordinator and the co-chair of the Restoration Advisory Board.  She was a commissioner of the Long Beach Community Development Advisory Commission for 8 years; and a member of the Home Preservation Loan Committee and the Empowerment Zone Application Committee.  She also served on the Board of the Greater Long Beach Chapter, American Red Cross for 14 years.

Ms. Ulaszewski received her B.S. from the University of New York and her Masters of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) from the University of Hawaii.  She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.  Until moving to Long Beach in 1992, she was a practicing Environmental/Land Use Planner.

 

Patrice Wong
Term Began 7/1/03

Patrice has been Executive Director of Long Beach Day Nursery since 2002. Prior to joining LBDN, she had close to 10 years of experience in community economic development, focusing on small business development and access to capital.  She is a graduate of Occidental College with a BA in Social Psychology, and received her MBA from the University of Southern California. 

Patrice
is currently vice chair of the Long Beach Early Childhood Education Committee, is the 4th District Appointee to the Los Angeles County Child Care Planning Committee, is a member of the board of directors of Abode Communities Design Corporation, and is a graduate of Leadership Long Beach.

 

 Board Meetings

The LBHDC Board meets every month on the 3rd Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the 3rd Floor Large Conference Room of City Hall. The LBHDC also has four standing committees. Please confirm meetings by calling (562) 570-6949:

Committee Meetings
Executive Review
Purpose
Screens all projects and program proposals submitted to the LBHDC and refers them either to a committee for further review or to the full Board for action.

Date & Time
1st Wednesday, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.

Location
City Hall, 3rd Floor Large Conference Room

 
Projects
Purpose
Reviews development projects and proposals for new construction, acquisition and/or rehabilitation and recommends appropriate action to the full Board.

Date & Time
2nd Tuesday, 8:00 - 10:00 a.m.

Location
City Hall, 3rd Floor Large Conference Room

 
Legislative/Advocacy
Purpose
Reviews legislation affecting affordable housing practices, programs and funding sources and prepares appropriate report to the full Board. Speaks on behalf of the LBHDC Board at public/community meetings, and attends City Council, RDA, Planning Commission or other meetings (whenever appropriate) to advocate for and support LBHDC-assisted projects or LBHDC-sponsored initiatives.

Date & Time
3rd Wednesday, 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Location
City Hall, Council Lounge (Lower Level)

 
Programs
Purpose
Reviews rehabilitation loans recommended for approval by the Housing Rehabilitation Officer. Reviews Rehbilitation Loan Program guidelines, procedures and issues. Reviews all items and issues related to Homebuyer Programs. Recommends appropriate action to the full Board.

Date & Time
1st Thursday, 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.

Location
City Hall, 2nd Floor Conference Room

 


What We Do

The goal and responsibility of the Housing Services Bureau is to create and preserve affordable housing for Long Beach’s citizens. The Housing Services Bureau is divided into three divisions: In the 2000 census, Long Beach households earned a median household income of $37,270 – well below the $42,189 median income for Los Angeles county. One third of all Long Beach households earned less than $25,000 and nearly two thirds earned less than $50,000. Even worse, half of the approximately 103,000 City residents in poverty are children.

Occupations earning less than $25,000 annually in Long Beach include the following:

  • Fast Food Workers
  • Retail Salespeople
  • Security Officers
  • Nurses Aides
  • Social Workers
  • School Aides
  • Janitors
Here is the 2008 Area Median Income in Los Angeles County for a family or household of four individuals:
 
Extremely Low $22, 750
Very Low $37, 900
Low $60, 650
Moderate $71, 800
Above Moderate $89, 700

These are the people we serve by creating housing that is decent, affordable and safe. The Long Beach Housing Development Company along with the City of Long Beach offers programs such as Homebuyer Assistance, Rehabilitation Loans, Security Deposit Assistance and Tenant Based Rental Assistance along with Housing Choice Vouchers that have assisted 10,982 households

 
The Housing Operations Division

This Division oversees the administrative and operational management of the Housing Services Bureau. Preparation and management of the Bureau’s budget, development and implementation of major housing initiatives such as the Housing Action Plan and the Housing Trust Fund, monitoring deed restricted properties and enforcement of affordability covenants are handled within the Housing Operations Division.


The Housing Development Division

This Division is charged with the responsibility for the development of affordable rental and ownership housing for very-low, low-, and moderate-income citizens.

Redevelopment housing set-aside funds, housing set-aside bond proceeds, federal HOME grants, and American Dream Downpayment Initiative grants provide the funding for the Housing Development Division. Since 1992, this Division has developed more than 950 rental and ownership units in the City of Long Beach.

In addition, Housing Services Bureau works very closely with the Housing Rehabiliation Division of the Neighborhood Services Bureau.

The Housing Communications Division

The responsibility of this Division is to educate, promote and increase awareness in the City of Long Beach to the many positive benefits of creating and maintaining quality, safe, affordable housing.

The Division has responded to the challenge by rebranding the LBHDC to create a unifying look and theme for all communication materials. The goal is to make all materials easy to read and understand.

We’ve created a comprehensive, user-friendly website; newly redesigned, informative newsletter; educational transit posters and an outreach program featuring a Speakers Bureau that gives us a forum to disseminate information about housing programs and services one-on-one out in the community.

If you have any questions or comments please call 562-570-6949