Rona Barrett pushes for affordable housing in Santa Barbara County

The former gossip columnist has proposed development of a low-income senior housing project in the Santa Ynez Valley. The seven-acre property has been in escrow since this spring to the Rona Barrett Foundation, a nonprofit that provides support for the elderly. The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission has agreed to get rezoning process started, but the Board of Supervisors has the final say. From the Santa Ynez Valley News:

As proposed, the 7.3-acre complex would include affordable independent-living housing, assisted living, adult and child day care, memory care, hospice care, affordable staff housing, a community center and gardens. Staff would live on the premises and be available 24 hours a day. Plans call for 40 assisted-living units, 20 in memory care, 70 for independent living, a 7,400-square-foot community center, and 24 staff and family housing units. Partners to operate the memory care, assisted living and adult day care services have yet to be confirmed.

From the Santa Barbara News-Press:

Ms. Barrett realized the need for a memory care unit the day her own father didn't recognize his daught. "My father asked me, 'Who are you?' So I told him 'It's Rona.' He said to me, 'I don't know anyone named Rona.' It was the day that changed my life, when I suddenly realized I had to be my parent's parent."