‘House of friendship’

United Cerebral Palsy of Los Angeles and Glendale officials on Friday celebrated the grand opening of an affordable housing project for low-income, developmentally disabled adults.

The $10.6-million Casa de la Amistad — Spanish for “house of friendship” — is a 24-unit apartment complex on the 6200 block of San Fernando Road and is United Cerebral Palsy’s 11th rent-subsidized apartment complex, officials said.

Ronald Cohen, president and chief executive for the nonprofit, said the goal was for residents to consider Casa de la Amistad as “a place of my own that I can call home.”

The complex was built to support independent living for disabled adults.

Each unit includes a common area with tie-dyed concrete floors, remote controlled doors, a large kitchen and bathroom for wheelchair-using tenants, wide walkways and an emergency call system that is monitored by an on-site property manager.

The modern complex with metal roofing also has a community room, a courtyard, laundry facilities and parking.

United Cerebral Palsy will also be providing counselors from its Community Support Living Program.

Cohen said the process, from concept to completion, took almost six years.

It started when Peter Zovak, deputy director for the Glendale Community Redevelopment and Housing, saw Casa de la Providencia, a United Cerebral Palsy apartment complex in Burbank.

Zovak approached Cohen about building a similar project in Glendale.

Casa de la Amistad replaced a blighted 27-unit apartment complex infamous for law enforcement and mismanagement issues.

The Glendale Housing Authority contributed $4.4 million for the project. Other financial contributors to the project also include the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the California Department of Housing and Community Development and the Weingart Foundation.

Cohen said from the moment the ribbon is cut on a new housing project for the disabled, “we will literally rewrite their future.”