1. Integrating Affordable Housing & Volunteer Opportunities for Low Income Residents
We co-venture with partner housing-
development organizations to preserve
a healthy supply of affordable housing
rental units, and to operate housing
units (currently 4 properties, 810 units)
with care, quality and respect.
We apply the same care, respect in providing quality
programs for our residents. Our signature program is the
Resident Volunteership United Program (ReV-UP). We
affixed the suffix ‘–ship’ to ‘volunteer’ to denote a craft
or skill gained through volunteering. ReV-UP is a
Resident Volunteership ProgramAffordable Housing
program-based training program that innova-
tively places volunteerism at the core of
solving inter-related social issues.
Contact Information: Khoi D. Pham | Executive Director | 213.268.0359 | kpham@bellacommunities.org |© 2015
Continuously Building On Growth
Expand
ReV-UP
Program
Demonstrate
Success +
Outcomes
Build
Reputation
+
Earned
Income
Acquire
Affordable
Housing
Units
Embed ReV-UP
Program in
New Acquisitions
At Bella Communities we believe that all low-income families deserve a meaningful livelihood. At the foundation of building
that livelihood is access to affordable housing. Bella Communities preserves and provides affordable housing. Comple-
menting housing, we mobilize low-income residents to volunteer as a pathway to an earned economic opportunity and to
aspire to have an enriched life. We want families to not just get by but also get ahead.

2. Contact Information: Khoi D. Pham | Executive Director | 213.268.0359 | kpham@bellacommunities.org |© 2015
The Community Need And Our Solution
Across America, according to U.S. Census Data there are more than 10 million low-income households in need of
affordable housing. Furthermore, studies have shown that low-income residents have virtually little savings and
reserves to weather financial hardships. As evidenced by McKernan and Ratcliffe (2009), more than 57 percent of
low-income families were “asset poor”, without enough liquid (financial) assets to finance consumption for three
months at the federal poverty level. In their struggle to make ends meet, residents suffer from anxiety and perilous
housing instability resulting from rent skipping and evictions. It is easy for residents to lose sight, feel overwhelmed
and dismiss civic engagement. Compounding the problem, a lack of involvement and local volunteerism further
reduces the residents’ connection to the community, which then fails to strengthen social networks and accrue
social equity, and fails to foster skills-building and inculcate self-worth. The very foundations of a healthy community
and personal advancement remain off-limits to the low-income residents.
We focus our efforts on low-income families, including seniors, special needs and other at-risk populations, living in
affordable multi-family rental units or scattered-site rental units. This population depends on the richness of support-
ive housing services. Within this group of the population, volunteerism is traditionally under-represented and
untapped.
The Opportunity to Collaborate
We leverage the combined delivery of affordable housing, coupled with resident supportive services
and resident volunteerism (ReV-UP program) to lift economic opportunity for low-income residents.
Affordable Housing
We provide multi-family rental housing that is affordable and serves as a base for a family to build its livelihood. With
housing affordability and stability, low-income families are able to stretch their financial resources to pursue other
enrichment activities.
Resident Supportive Services
We outreach and provide low-income residents with available community-based resources, access to health,
wellness, education and recreational activities. With the knowledge and awareness, they are equipped to make
decisions to address their needs and overcome challenges.
Resident Volunteership United Program (ReV-UP)
We facilitate low-income residents to do volunteering projects within the local community with non-profits. Residents
apply volunteering experience as a career builder, earning rent credits, and are empowered to be part of the
solution in addressing local community development, have a self-sustainable livelihood and reduce reliance on
public assistance.
Resident
Volunteer-
ship
Resident
Supportive
Services
Affordable
Housing
Leverage
Economic
Opportunity
$

3. Housing
Stability
Economic
Opportunity
C
ivic
Engagem
ent
ReV-UP
Career Builder Coaching
FinancialEm
powerm
ent/Literacy
PersonalAssessm
ent
Rent Credits
Outputs (number of):
We implemented the ReV-UP pilot program over a
2-year period (2012-2013) in 4 Indiana properties. With
100 households participating (10% of the total
outreach of 1,000), we gathered early insights and
results.
Opportunity
$17,000
Volunteer Earnings
2,000 Volunteer
Hours Deployed
96% Surveyed
Felt Connected
Bottom Line LIft
From Less Rent Losses
Contact Information:
At the core ReV-UP addresses 3 main strategies: increase civic engagement, generate economic opportunity and
support housing stability. Within these strategies key services and interventions are provided to drive results. The produc-
tivity and success will be measured in both outputs and outcomes. This is a holistic methodology with deliberate intent and
measurable impact.
From Pilot Program to Demonstration Phase
Join Us Now. We will provide technical assistance and tech-
nology support to “early adopters” with the combined goal
of outreaching to 6,000 households (among 25 properties).
The ReV-UP Program Demonstration Phase will run up to 24
months. Working together we have the following goals:
• Mobilize significantly more residents to participate: Volunteer,
Earn and Aspire
• Measure key outputs and impact to residents, property owners,
and non-profit host sites
• Make refinements to the implementation and training
methodology, tool kits, data collection tool, and the
delivery of services
• Demonstrate the applicability and efficacy of the ReV-UP model
to inform the conversation about the needs of low-income
residents and evidence-based interventions
Strategies
Services & Interventions
Training/W
orkshops
Outcomes (change in):
• Workshops Provided
• Participants and trainees
• Volunteer Hours Deployed
• Generated Earned Income
• Non-profit beneficiaries/host sites
• Job resumes and job interviews
• Incidents of eviction/skipping avoidance
• Volunteer Knowledge
• Financial Knowledge & Aspiration
• Awareness of options to avoid evictions
and rent skipping
• Participant Involvement/Engagement
In addition, to test the efficacy of the ReV-UP model to other
related sectors, we have collaborated with a non-profit leader
in Southern California that works with special needs adults by
making available our ReV-UP toolkits, website and back-office
engine to encourage volunteerism among its clients.
Insights from Pilot Program
Our ReV-UP Program has received industry interest as an innovative thought-leader and has been featured by:
Contact Information:Contact Information: Khoi D. Pham | Executive Director | 213.268.0359 | kpham@bellacommunities.org |© 2015
VolunteerM
anagem
ent
Resident Volunteership United Program
Volunteer. Earn. Aspire

4. Contact Information: Khoi D. Pham | Executive Director | 213.268.0359 | kpham@bellacommunities.org |© 2015
Our Organization’s Track Record
The Early Start-Up Years
Bella Communities was founded in 2009 as a 501(c)(3) social
ente prise. In the early years, our strategic focus was 3-prong:
1. Investing in the organizational infrastructure- provided
scalability and economies of scale
2. Building out steadily our balance sheet- ensured
liquidity and durability
3. Piloting our ReV-UP- tested a proof-of-concept
We achieved these aims by joint-venturing with for-profit devel-
opers to earn working capital; being adaptive, nimble and
flexible in our operation, avoiding significant fixed operating
expenses; and managing costs as a variable expense. In addi-
tion, we leveraged volunteers, contractors and corporate
pro-bono professional services and products (i.e., NPower The
Community Corps and Google-For-Nonprofits).
Start-Up Phase Demonstration Phase
• 4 LIHTC Property Acquisitions
through Joint Venture
• Average $100,000
Joint-Venture Income
over last 3 years
• Working Capital Reserve
of $200,000
Single Source Revenue &
In-Kind Contributions
Pro-bono, volunteer and
variable contractor services
Multiple Sources &
Earned Income Revenues
Internal Capacities &
Professional Staff
The Plan for The
Demonstration Phase
Having addressed our initial 3-prong strategy, we
are positioned for the next phase. Incrementally
we transform to a more robust and professionally
staffed organization and to diversify our revenue
sources. We convert the single source of transac-
tion fees and in-kind pro-bono resources to multi-
ple streams: recurring earned income from
ReV-UP technical assistance fees, private/ corpo-
rate donations, foundations and grantmakers.
We expand our initial reach in Central Indiana to
introduce our model to 3 additional geographical
regions. There is a concentrated and intractable
low-income housing need. Together they will
provide different perspectives and highlight core
similarities and regional nuances. The learning will
inform a solid foundation to roll out on a broader
national platform.
500K
Renters
in Public
Housing
NY
750K
Renters
IN
5.5 Million
Rental
Households
CA
With the infusion of capital investment from foundations and grant-makers, we will strengthen our internalcapacities by
recruiting and retaining qualified professionals and continue to expand our ReV-UP program validation and prove the
value-proposition during the next Demonstration Phase:
• Mobilize significantly more residents to participate: Volunteer, Earn and Aspire
• Measure key outputs and impact to residents, property owners, and non-profit host sites
• Refine the implementation and training methodology, data collection tool kits, and the delivery of services
• Demonstrate the applicability and efficacy of the ReV-UP model to inform the conversation about the needs
of low-income residents and evidence-based interventions
• Formulate a subsequent go-to-market distribution and earned-income strategy
The Demonstration Phase rollout timeframe is up to 24 months deployed as follows:*
Why do we deserve support now?
25 6K
Total Outreach # of
Low-Income Properties
Total Outreach # of
Household Units
$500K$500K$500K$500K+ =
Total Internal
Capacity Building
Total Funding
Request
Total Direct
Program Cost
*We will incrementally add new properties on a rolling basis to match the layered levels of funding.
$360K$360K$360K$360K $140K$140K