ICYMI: Hope Takes Root at Westview
This month marked the joyful culmination of a years-long effort to serve unhoused neighbors in the Pajaro Valley. Leaders from across Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties gathered for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of HOPE Village (Housing Opportunity Programs Employment), a 34-unit, low-barrier transitional housing community located on the property of Westview Presbyterian Church in Watsonville. The Presbytery of San Jose staff were grateful to be present alongside Westview, local leaders, and community partners to celebrate the long-awaited milestone.
At the heart of HOPE Village is the faithful, persistent leadership of Westview Presbyterian Church and its pastor, Rev. Dan Hoffman. From offering the church’s property as a building site to navigating countless bureaucratic hurdles along the way, Dan — alongside many tireless Westview congregants — has championed this project from its inception. Among those key figures is longtime Westview volunteer Margo Loehr, whose years of dedication to supporting the Watsonville community helped make this vision possible. An inaugural placard outside of HOPE’s entryway includes Margo as its only individual dedication, a testament to her impact on the project’s fruition. What now stands on Westview’s property is not only housing but a testimony to collaborative discipleship for its broader community.
The opening also reflected the strength of a wide network of partners, including Roxanne Wilson, County Homeless Services Director for the County of Monterey; Maria Elena De La Garza, Executive Director of the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County, along with representatives from DignityMoves and the Community Action Board. As Elizabeth Funk, CEO of DignityMoves, reflected during the celebration, “What you see here today bears witness to the beautiful miracle of collaboration.”
HOPE Village will provide wraparound support, including transitional housing for six months or more, food, counseling, social services, employment support, and a safe community with 24/7 security. Its structures, built by LifeArk using recycled high-density polyurethane plastic, also reflect creative stewardship — turning discarded materials into durable, dignified places of shelter and stability. In naming what made such a project possible, Robert Ratner, Housing for Health Partnership Director for the County of Santa Cruz, said simply: “What made this project possible is we let go of our boundaries.”
As the 14th housing community developed by DignityMoves in California, HOPE Village is both a local milestone and part of a broader movement to respond to homelessness with both compassion and practicality. We give thanks for Rev. Dan Hoffman, Margo Loehr, and the entire Westview Presbyterian Church community, whose steady work helped bring this vision to life, and ask for prayers in guiding both the residents and the dedicated staff of this newfound community, as they move toward healing and serve as a beacon of hope to the countless others working toward change on a similar scale.
By Colin Richardson, Communications & Executive Support Associate | Presbytery Digest, May 22, 2026