Board Member and Volunteer Coordinator Barbara Milliken presents Executive Director Steve Clare with a certificate recognizing his five years as an exemplary volunteer from 1988-1993. Photo credit Jack Prichett.

Over 25 years ago Steve Clare had the vision of a community-based non-profit organization that would provide affordable housing and help the homeless in Venice. He worked tirelessly in the late 1980s and early 1990s to bring that vision to life.

Venice Community Housing was born in 1988 as a volunteer organization operating out of a small law office on Venice Blvd. which housed the law practice of Steve Clare, Susan Millmann and a few other attorneys. For five years, from 1988 to 1993, Steve served without pay as the VCH's Executive Director, building community support and bringing in the grants and funding needed for a full-time organization. VCH was officially registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 1993. 

At our annual staff and Board holiday party on December 13th, we honored Steve for over a quarter century of selfless devotion to VCH and to the greater Venice community.    

Volunteers key to making 21st annual Jazz at Palms Court the most successful yet!  

VCH staff members and Jazz Committee members Jack Prichett, Ethel Gullette, Laurie Pincus, Sylvia Aroth, Barbara Milliken and Yvonne Chang. Not pictured: Sherry Anapol, Jena Turkheimer.

Volunteers make a difference! September's Jazz at Palms Court fundraiser proved it. Revenue from this year's Jazz event exceeded last year by over 30 percent! That means more resources for the homeless and low-income people we serve. The hundreds of hours that volunteers invested in organizing and staffing the event helped us secure these fantastic results.  

The weekend of the event, additional volunteers helped set up tents, tables and silent auction displays, greeted guests, staffed the kitchen and buffet line, waited on tables, and much more. We could not have held the event without this critical volunteer support!