FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bernard Sandalow
(310) 837-5959
Dianne Russell
(714) 549-4100 x111
dianne@wchousing.org
Western community housing names industry veteran
As new director of residenet services
COSTA MESA, Calif., March 1, 2007 – Western Community Housing, Inc. (“WCH), a nonprofit public benefit corporation whose mission is to provide affordable housing and services to low income seniors and families, announced it has named industry veteran Dianne Russell as Director of Resident Services.
Russell, whose appointment is effective immediately, reports to Graham Espley-Jones, President of WCH. She will be responsible for operating and expanding the firm’s various on-site social service, activity and referral programs for residents living in affordable apartment communities in which WCH has an ownership interest.
“I am very excited and pleased to join the WCH team, and look forward to finding ways to expand and enhance the services we provide to our residents, and also to developing new programs to serve them better,” Russell said.
“Dianne brings tremendous experience and strength to our organization” said Espley-Jones. “She has unique resident service qualifications that compliment our mission and will benefit both our residents and affordable housing communities”.
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Prior to joining WCH, Russell served as Director of Resident Services at Jamboree Housing Corporation (“JHC”), one of Orange County’s largest nonprofit developers and operators of affordable multifamily and senior housing. While at JHC, Russell launched “Housing With Heart,” a separate nonprofit organization created to assess the needs of JHC residents and provide responsive on-site services and programs.
Before joining JHC in 1999, Russell was Executive Director of Women Helping Women, a community-based nonprofit organization. She has also worked for YWCA of the Foothills, the South Orange County YWCA, and the Orange County Homeless Issues Task Force. She is also a board member of the Kennedy Commission, an organization working to expend housing opportunities for extremely low-income families in Orange County, as well as a member of the Costa Mesa Housing Coalition.
Russell earned bachelor’s degrees in
Behavioral Science and Philosophy at California State Polytechnic University,
Pomona, and a master’s degree in Social Psychology at California State
University, Los Angeles.
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Costa Mesa, WCH currently has an ownership interest in forty-five affordable housing communities in California with approximately 2,925 apartment units in operations and an additional 1,350 apartment units in development.
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NOTE
TO EDITORS: A photo of Ms. Russell is
available on request.