Rona Barrett Opens Harry’s House for Seniors

On Friday, October 13, Rona Barrett saw her hard work pay off with the opening of Harry’s House (HH), a housing concept for seniors and especially those with dementia, at the same campus of her first housing for seniors, the Golden Inn & Village in Santa Ynez. Harry’s House is named after her dad, who she cared for and loved.

The ceremony was held outside at the front door canopy area of the building. The introductory remarks were made by the Rona Barrett Foundation Board Chair Cynthia Manigault, who talked briefly about the team that worked on the project, including Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara Bob Havlicek; COO of the Parsons Family Management Group Inc. Janelle Parsons; President and CEO of the Santa Barbara Foundation Jackie Carrera; and all the donors and sponsors. Manigault said, “Seniors deserve respect, dignity, and a home they can feel proud to bring their friends to visit. And to our seniors, we see you, we hear you, and thank you for your many contributions to our country and community, we welcome you to Harry’s House!”

Havlicek’s speech expounded on Manigault’s thank-yous, and mentioned Executive Director/CEO at Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara Rob Fredericks; VP Operations at Heritage House Julie McGeever, who served as the project director of HH; construction by President and CEO of Sunseri Construction Donny Lieberman; Executive Director of HH Christa Hampton; Housing/CD Program Manager at County of Santa Barbara Laurie Baker; all staff at the Santa Barbara County Housing Authority and The Gardens of Hope; Managing Director of Wells Fargo San Francisco Tim McCann for financing construction lenders and tax credit; and major financing by the California Community Foundation investment organization and the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. He also said, “The project went up quickly and by August Harry’s House was ready to be occupied, the applications went up on our site, and it was fully leased by September with 300 people on the waiting list, which is now closed. The rental includes the studio apartment, meals prepared in a commercial grade kitchen, recreation, accounting, insurance, quality control, furniture for those who need it, and more. It took several villages to create this one!”

Wendy Motta for Congressman Salud Carbajal and Ethan Bertrand for State Assemblymember Gregg Hart each presented Barrett with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition and thanked her for her dedicated work for our seniors. They were followed by Third District County Supervisor Joan Hartmann PhD J.D., who said, “I recall working on this project, along with our work on aging well in Santa Barbara County. Seniors are currently 20 percent of the population and growing. We are working on housing solutions for people of all situations. Rona created a model solution for us, and it is the gold standard we want to replicate in the state of California.” Parsons spoke briefly echoing the sentiments prior.

Barrett was introduced and fighting back tears as she shared her thankfulness for everyone who believed in the project and worked through to its completion. She then cut the ribbon with the team to officially open Harry’s House by saying, “God bless everyone who lives here!” Guests were invited to meet Barrett, tour HH, and stay for lunch with the residents.