Rahway Survey Results Encouraging for New Jersey Regional Development

Last week, The Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC) launched its new e-newsletter, Housing Previews! We thought we’d share one of this issue’s stories here – a take on the results from our recent Rahway Artists Housing Survey by Carol Ann Herbert, Chair of the Planning Committe, New Jersey State Council on the Arts. (Click here to read the rest of Housing Previews, and you can subscribe here.)

Carol Ann Herbert is a member of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and chair of its planning committee. Ms. Herbert has also served on the board of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies from 2008 to 2011 and is currently a trustee for the New Jersey Theatre Alliance as well as a board member and vice-chair of the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.

As a member of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, I spend a lot of time working with colleagues, organizations, and citizens to advance Governor Christie’s goals to foster thriving artistic endeavors and contribute to the growing vitality of the creative economy in our state’s diverse communities. While originally intended to measure market demand for their affordable artist housing development in Rahway, NJ; the results of a survey conducted by the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation have important implications for these pursuits.

The mission of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts is to improve the quality of life in the state by helping the arts to flourish. In addition to inspiring, entertaining and connecting meaningfully with residents, artists and non-profit arts organizations move more than a billion dollars through the state’s economy every year. This is why one of the specific goals of the Council is to build a state economy whose community and economic development strategies, plans and resource allocations at all jurisdictional levels feature the arts and culture. When I learned about the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC) and discovered that it was planning projects in New Jersey, I was encouraged. Here is a group that recognizes both the human and economic impact of the arts.

When I discovered that the AFHDC has been officially named the redeveloper of a site in Rahway, NJ and plans to develop a building called the Rahway Residence for the Arts, I was even more encouraged. Rahway, a small city 21 miles southeast of Manhattan and located on the New Jersey Transit Northeast Corridor line, has been developing a vibrant arts scene as a revitalization strategy for the last decade. In 2007, the city completed a renovation of a historic 1,300-seat Vaudeville theatre located in the heart of downtown, which now houses the Union County Performing Arts Center. This September, a new purpose-built theatre, Hamilton Stage, opened a few blocks away and is providing opportunities for residents to experience the likes of American Repertory Ballet and Strangedog Theatre. With these two theatres, as well as galleries and city-sponsored arts programming, downtown Rahway seems a perfect fit for affordable artist housing.

In August, the AFHDC launched a survey of visual and performing artists, as well as others working in associated creative professions, to measure demand for the project they envisioned, which included 60 apartments and a cultural space that could be used both by residents to practice their art and the larger community. The New Jersey State Council on the Arts supported this survey and assisted in its promotion.

The survey remained open online for one month and over one hundred organizations assisted in publicizing it to applicable individuals. The full survey report, published this week, shows strong results. While the full report contains 60 pages of data and analysis, I will pull out a few of the most salient items here.

725 people out of 1,072 who took the survey (68%) expressed interest in relocating to the Rahway Residence for the Arts. Only four of these respondents currently lived in Rahway. As the project is currently conceived, it could bring as many as 126 new residents to the city, representing more foot traffic in the downtown; more dollars spent in local restaurants, shops, and convenience stores; and more homegrown creative capital. Just think of the numerous possible collaborations with the existing arts facilities in the immediate vicinity.

74% of interested respondents did not know about Rahway’s status as a growing center for the arts, but were excited enough by the project description as well as what they read about Rahway and other Actors Fund housing facilities that they felt the Rahway Residence for the Arts could be a home for them. This represents an opportunity for the City of Rahway, its businesses, landlords and non-profit arts organizations to capture new markets by continuing to raise awareness about their unique offerings.

Additionally, 82% of the interested respondents are currently engaged in work in New York City. Considering that the Rahway Residence for the Arts will be a three-block walk from Rahway’s New Jersey Transit train station and a 40-minute ride to Manhattan’s Penn Station, this piece of data indicates the power of transit-oriented development.

Overall, 68% of interested respondents were living outside of northern or central New Jersey, including the 32% living in Manhattan. This suggests potential for the region to attract residents from elsewhere by providing transit-accessible, affordable housing alternatives linked to exciting cultural activities.

From my perspective as a member of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the results of this survey suggest the possibility for cities and towns of our state to replicate this strategy and cultivate a strong creative economy. Proximity to Manhattan can be a benefit, but so can local assets such as historic theatres, committed leadership, and artistic, entrepreneurial residents. The Rahway Residence for the Arts is truly an exciting initiative and we at the Council will be enthusiastically supporting it through its next stages of development.

Editor’s Note: The full survey report can be found here. Along with our development partners, the Ingerman Group and Crawford Street Partners, AFHDC will be applying for low-income housing tax credits to raise equity for the project in the spring of 2013.

Learn more about the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation, as well as all the free and confidential program and services of The Actors Fund. Learn more about the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Click here to subscribe to Housing Previews, the newsletter of the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation. You can also sign up to receive the latest on The Actors Fund’s Workshops, Groups and Seminars, as well as our Special Performances, Events, Auction & eNews.

AFHDC-Monadnock team selected to develop “micro-unit” project in Manhattan

At a news conference today at the Museum of the City of New York, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York City Commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Mathew M. Wambua announced The Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC) and Monadnock Development have been chosen to construct an innovative, space-efficient building of micro-units in Manhattan’s Kips Bay neighborhood.  

We asked Rebecca Sauer, Project Analyst for the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation to tell us more about the project. You can also read the press release by visiting our website.

New York City is changing. As it strives to nurture and retain the creative and talented individuals that make the city thrive, its housing stock must evolve as well. The Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC) is honored to have been selected, in partnership with Monadnock Development Inc., to develop a residence in Kips Bay that uses modular technology and intelligent design solutions to showcase the “micro-living” concept. The project, dubbed My Micro NY, will cater to New York City’s expanding population of one- and two-person households.

Last July, under the leadership of Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Mathew Wambua, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) announced the adAPT competition as an outgrowth of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council’s (CHPC) Making Room project. By studying the changing city, CHPC discovered a mismatch in demographics and housing stock. There are 1.8 million one- and two-person households and only 1 million studios and one-bedroom apartments to choose from. Affordability is also a major concern, preventing smaller households from accessing appropriate living environments. In order to encourage future development of these apartment types, the adAPT competition asked developers to propose concepts for a site in Kips Bay (at First Avenue between 27^th and 28^th Streets), allowing smaller units than regulations currently allow, and maximizing livability at the micro scale. Thirty-three development teams entered the competition, and other cities are following suit: in November, San Francisco legislators approved the construction of 220-square-foot apartments, and cities like Boston are launching projects to develop “micro-units” as well.

New Yorkers want and need quality, safe, affordable housing as a base from which they can pursue their dreams and build the lives and careers they envision for themselves. We know this to be true throughout the performing arts and entertainment community that The Actors Fund has served over the last 130 years. Whether they have been working on Broadway for decades, or have just arrived in the city, these individuals are often worried about the stability and affordability of their living situation.

“We formed the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation as a subsidiary in 2009 for this exact purpose—to be active in creating new housing solutions that will benefit the performing arts and entertainment community,” said Joseph P. Benincasa, President of The Actors Fund. “The fact that My Micro NY has application for other communities and cities is a tremendous opportunity.”

“We are proud to be a member of the development team selected by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to be at the vanguard of implementing Mayor Bloomberg’s vision to provide a new and innovative option for attractive affordable housing that responds to the changing demographics and preferences of New York City’s residents,” said Scott Weiner, President of the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation.

The groundwork for our team’s proposal lies within The Actors Fund’s experience co-developing and co-operating The Schermerhorn residence in downtown Brooklyn, which also contains very small units. Lots of natural light, well-programmed community spaces and cultural facilities are the key to enhancing the residents’ experience in the building. My Micro NY, designed by renowned firm nARCHITECTS, will be a tall and slender building with open floor plans that makes use of every inch — and features Juliet balconies. Each unit will be constructed by the Capsys Corporation at their Brooklyn Navy Yard plant, then transported to the site and erected by Monadnock. The Actors Fund will play a leading role in programming the building’s common spaces and creating opportunities for residents to participate in a creative community.

By employing a modular construction method, this project will be completed in a short timeline. Please check our website (www.actorsfund.org) for news and updates.

Read the press release.

Learn more about the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation.

Take Our Rahway Artist Housing Survey!

The empty lot behind this building is the future site of AFHDC’s affordable artist housing in Rahway, NJ.

Last week, The Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC) launched a market study of those in the arts, entertainment and creative industries to determine the feasibility of and interest in affordable housing in Rahway, NJ. The launch event took place at the Hamilton Stage, the newest component of the booming Rahway Arts District (RAD).

This first step–a four-week initiative–is looking for feedback from those working in the arts who live in the region spanning metropolitan New York and central and northern New Jersey. The survey’s results will help shape the Rahway Residence for the Arts, a 69-unit affordable housing project to be developed by the AFHDC. Of course, the more people who take the ten-minute survey, the better, so if you’re interested, visit www.RahwayArtistHousingSurvey.org!

The proposed site is in the middle of the Rahway Arts District, on now-vacant land between the Hamilton Stage and the Union County Performing Arts Center, and only three blocks from Rahway’s New Jersey Transit train station.  The AFHDC development team includes Crawford Street Partners of Newark, NJ, and the Ingerman Group of Cherry Hill, NJ. A former two-story office building located on the site will be donated to the City of Rahway for use as an arts education facility.

Check out some video highlights from the launch (embedded below), which also includes photos of the neighborhood. During the event, attendees learned about AFHDC plans to redevelop the property owned and previously used by Elizabethtown Gas at 210 Central Avenue. The site will include spaces devoted to resident and community cultural use such as rehearsal rooms, galleries, studios, and an arts education facility, in addition to affordable housing for artists.

Along with Actors Fund President and CEO Joe Benincasa and the AFHDC’s Scott Weiner, attendees included leaders of the New Jersey arts community: Leo Vasquez of Rutgers University’s Arts Build Communities; Teya David and Libby Reid of the Union County Cultural & Heritage Commission; and Karen Pinzolo of ArtPride NJ.. Also in attendance were Rachael Faillace, executive director of the Rahway Arts District; Russ Taylor, president and CEO of the RSI Bank in Rahway; and Rahway officials including Samson Steinman, president of Rahway City Council and executive director of the Union County Performing Arts Center and Hamilton Stage, and William Rack of the Rahway Redevelopment Commission. Actors and other artists living and working in the region who would benefit from the availability of affordable housing also attended the event and were among the first to complete the online survey.

In May of this year, the city of Rahway designated the non-profit AFHDC as the redeveloper of the site for the affordable housing project. Together with its development partners, the AFHDC is planning to develop, own and manage affordable rental units for individuals and families with low and moderate incomes. Current plans anticipate construction to begin in 2013.

This is the first step in a community engagement effort that will be documented and shared widely. The survey will close on September 14th, after which the results will be captured in a report and posted on The Actors Fund website.

The Actors Fund Housing portfolio includes The Lillian Booth Actors Home, an assisted living and skilled nursing care facility in Englewood, NJ; as well as affordable supportive housing at The Palm View in West Hollywood, CA; The Dorothy Ross Friedman Residence (formerly The Aurora) in New York City, and The Schermerhorn in Downtown Brooklyn. Additionally, the AFHDC is actively evaluating opportunities for future developments in New York City, Newark, and Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Affordable Housing Update!

A shot from the ArtPlace grant announcement: Keith McNutt, Actors Fund; Olga Garay-English, Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs; Jessica Wethington-McLean, Bringing Back Broadway and Council Member José Huizar, Scott Weiner, Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation; Teri Deaver, Artspace; Tim Halbur, Artplace; Travis Preston, California Institute of the Arts; and Aileen Adams, Office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The last few weeks have been incredibly exciting for the Broadway Arts Center project in downtown Los Angeles, for which The Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC) has been playing a critical role. On June 5, AFHDC announced the formalization of a new partnership with the Minneapolis-based Artspace as part of the project, which hopes to create a mixed-use development comprising a black box theater, art gallery, creative commercial space and affordable housing for artists. And to further underscore the project’s viability, ArtPlace (a new national collaboration of 11 major national and regional foundations, six of the nation’s largest banks, and eight federal agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, dedicated to transforming communities with strategic investments in the arts) announced on June 12 that the Broadway Arts Center will receive $470,000 – the largest national grant to be awarded.

Artspace and AFHDC have been working together for the last year and a half as part of the group of organizations studying the viability of the Broadway Arts Center, including the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, California Institute of the Arts, Bringing Back Broadway and Pritzker prize winning architect Thom Mayne and Morphosis Architects. In addition to public input meetings and focus groups, the organizations oversaw comprehensive arts market surveys and an affordable housing/commercial market study, a summary and initial results of which are available at http://creativespacela.org/. Funded through a grant from the NEA Mayor’s Institute on City Design 25th Anniversary Initiative, they found tremendous need for affordable space for artists, arts organizations and creative businesses in Downtown Los Angeles.

In addition to the exciting new ArtSpace/AFHDC partnership, the ArtPlace grant will bring the dream of the Broadway Arts Center closer to reality, and it was one of only four projects selected in downtown LA (the others were SCI-Arc, Cornerstone Theater, and Esperanza Housing Corp.). The next steps in the process of creating the Broadway Arts Center include site selection and evaluation, and while a timeline for completion of the project has not yet been finalized, Artspace (which has developed 30 properties around the country) believes projects of this nature can take anywhere from three to six years.

Visit our website for more on AFHDC, to find out how The Fund can help you find affordable housing, and for more on The Fund’s existing affordable housing projects, including New York’s The Schermerhorn and Dorothy Ross Friedman Residence, and Los Angeles’s Palm View.

Howard McGillin Brings A Little Phantom To The Lillian Booth Actors Home

Howard McGillin with Lillian Booth Actors Home resident Jennie Shulman

It’s been an especially eventful December at the Lillian Booth Actors Home (more to come next week!). On December 5th, John Erman (our fabulous Actors Fund supporter who donates his time and talent to make special monthly visits by celebrities and entertainment legends possible) and Tony and Drama Desk Award nominee Howard McGillin stopped by The Home to spend some time with the residents. Set to be seen as Frank Crawley in the upcoming production of Rebecca at the Broadhurst Theatre, Howard spoke about his life in the industry, which includes his record-setting run as the longest running Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. He also treated the residents to a few show-stopping tunes, accompanied by pianist Joseph Thalken.

Howard with resident Gordon Connell

And just in case you want to see the show Howard dedicated so much of his career to, The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway is about to become the first production ever to hit 10,000 performances on February 11, 2012. Amazingly, that record-setting event will benefit The Actors Fund! Don’t miss it – visit our website for tickets.

The Actors Fund’s Lillian Booth Actors Home is an assisted living and skilled nursing care facility that provides a comfortable living environment on six acres of property in Englewood, New Jersey. Click here to learn more about The Home and its services.

Taking Time Out: Liz Callaway Visits The Lillian Booth Actors Home

Liz greets Peter Neufeld (one of Broadway's most successful managers and producers) during her September 8 visit to The Lillian Booth Actors Home.

One of the more special highlights of life at The Lillian Booth Actors Home are the regular visits by some of the entertainment industry’s best and brightest, each of whom take time out of their busy schedules to perform for and spend some time with their now-retired compatriots residing at The Home. This month’s amazingly generous guest was Tony nominee and Emmy winner Liz Callaway, who performed a few of her favorite show-stopping numbers (including Memory and Something Wonderful) accompanied by the always-fabulous keyboardist Phil Reno. Liz was also interviewed by John Erman, and spent time greeting all of the residents who’d stopped by for the festivities.

A very special thank-you to our wonderful supporter John Erman, who donates his time and talent to make these special monthly visits possible.

John Erman and Liz.

The Actors Fund’s Lillian Booth Actors Home is an assisted living and skilled nursing care facility that provides a comfortable living environment on six acres of property in Englewood, New Jersey. Click here to learn more about The Home and its services.

Hey Los Angeles — Help Us Out By Taking The Broadway Arts Center Survey

Interested in assisting the cultural development of downtown L.A.? The Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC), together with its partners including the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and Artspace, has launched a National Endowment for the Arts–funded survey to assess the housing needs of the Los Angeles entertainment, performing and visual arts communities.

To make it a success, we’re encouraging members of the creative community — artists of all disciplines, individuals associated with the arts, entertainment and creative industries, arts and cultural organizations and creative commercial businesses — to complete the survey before October 10, 2011.

This project will help further the development of downtown Los Angeles’s Broadway Arts Center (BAC), a facility still in the planning stages, which will provide affordable artists’ housing, performance/exhibition space, educational facilities, and creative business space, and serve to help in the revitalization of the Historic Broadway Theater District. The results will help the partners secure further support and funding for the project, as well as influence the BAC’s location, size, number, and type of creative spaces/facilities, design features, amenities, programs and affordability.

We want to be sure the new facility meets everyone’s needs throughout the community, so the more of you who participate, the better! There are two separate surveys, one for individuals and another for organizations, so please take a few minutes to complete one of them (or both, if you’re eligible), and then help spread the word to your colleagues.

Please visit http://www.creativespacela.org/ to take the survey, and thank you for your participation.

The project team consists of a public/private partnership including The Actors Fund, The Los Angeles DCA, Bringing Back Broadway, the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA-LA), the City Planning Department Urban Design Studio, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and Artspace. If you’d like BAC project updates, “like” Creative Space L.A. on Facebook.

The AFHDC works to develop affordable, supportive and senior housing for the performing arts community that improves lives, creates jobs, fosters economic development and revitalizes communities. For more information visit The Actors Fund’s website, or contact the AFHDC’s President and CEO, Scott Weiner at 212.221.7300 ext. 106 or sweiner@actorsfund.org.

On The Links For The Fund

The day's Golf Chair Peter Gallagher (in white) with the team from Olympus Theatricals.

Last Monday, Actors Fund supporters — and sports enthusiasts — headed to Tenafly’s historic Knickerbocker Country Club for The Fund’s CelebriTEE Golf & Tennis Outing, proceeds of which benefited The Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood. In spite of the inclement weather, attendees spent the afternoon playing their choice of golf or tennis, then headed to the clubhouse for a cocktail hour, during which Golf Chair Peter Gallagher introduced the day’s Tennis Chair, Liz Callaway, who sang two perfectly-chosen medleys accompanied by Phil Reno. Dinner also featured an exciting raffle of golf equipment, led by our friends at IATSE-Local One — including Robert “Toby” McDonough and Bobby Score, to whom we extend a special thank-you for managing the entire outing! Also joining our guests were Aaron Tveit, star of Catch Me If You Can, and Ernie Sabella, most recently starring in the Broadway hit Curtains, both of whom did well out there on the course!

Thanks to all of our donors, sponsors and volunteer chairs for a terrific day of fellowship. And be sure to check back for our highlight video of the day, which we’ll be posting soon!

Doug Juhasz, Ernie Sabella, Aaron Tveit and Stanley Tveit.

The day's Tennis Chair, Liz Callaway, on the court.

Celebrating Edwin Forrest’s Legacy

Edwin Forrest Society member James Karen in LA.

The Actors Fund marked its annual Edwin Forrest Day celebrations with two special readings of Shakespeare: The first took place on April 29 on the grounds of The Actors Fund Home in Englewood, NJ (we’ve pasted our highlight video below), and the second, on May 2, at Off Vine in Los Angeles.

The history of The Actors Fund is entwined with the name of this great actor, who historians consider the first great star of the American theatre.

Born in Philadelphia in 1806, Edwin Forrest quickly became the most popular actor in nineteenth-century America. Particularly admired for his interpretations of Shakespeare, he was the first American to be acclaimed internationally as well. (His star shined so brightly, in fact, that he was one of the two actors whose Shakespearian rivalry spurred New York City’s infamous Astor Place Riot in 1849.)

Actors Fund Chairman Brian Stokes Mitchell at the Los Angeles celebration.

The most important part of Edwin Forrest’s legacy, though, was what he did to help change society’s perception of actors, which at the time was not generally positive. A major supporter of both The General Theatrical Fund and the American Dramatic Fund Association (two predecessors of The Actors Fund), his true desire was to establish a retirement home for the elderly members of the profession he so loved. Four years after his death in 1872, The Edwin Forrest Home opened in Philadelphia, funded by the bulk of Forrest’s enormous estate, which he left for this purpose. It remained open until the 1980s, when its Board of Managers decided to close the home, sell the property, and contribute its sizable assets to The Actors Fund for the merger of The Edwin Forrest Home with The Fund’s Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey. Today, The Lillian Booth’s main section is known as the Edwin Forrest Wing.

The name of this great actor and humanitarian also lives on in The Actors Fund’s Edwin Forrest Society, membership in which is granted to those who have included a gift to The Fund in their estate plan. For more information on the Edwin Forrest Society, please call Wallace Munro, Director of Planned Giving, at 212.221.7300 ext. 128, or e-mail wmunro@actorsfund.org.

Los Angeles Edwin Forrest Day photos by Daniel G. Lam. Edwin Forrest daguerreotype by Mathew Brady.

–Karissa Krenz

Actors Fund Fans: Rock Hudson & Dale Olson

Not long ago, a short clip featuring Rock Hudson speaking in support of The Actors Fund surfaced on YouTube. Curious to learn more, we contacted Rock’s longtime publicist and friend — and Actors Fund Trustee — Dale Olson, who enlightened us:

In early 1984, The Sands Hotel in Atlantic City — interested in doing a benefit for The Fund — contacted our New York office. Searching for a star to make a special appearance, The Fund called Olson, who in turn phoned Hudson, who jumped at the chance to do his part. The Sands provided a helicopter to and from New York, where Hudson had an apartment.

“Rock thought it was a hoot because he had never been to Atlantic City, and we walked the Boardwalk and he signed autographs—he just had a wonderful time.”

Susan Saint James, Morgan Fairchild and Susan Lucci also attended the March 31, 1984 event, which was hosted and underwritten by Mr. and Mrs. William Weidner (Mr. Weidner was the President of The Sands). Hudson accepted The Sands’ $40,000 donation and spoke about The Fund, particularly mentioning one point especially important to Olson: The Fund helps everyone in the entertainment industry, not just actors. Hudson was persuaded by the showgirls to dance, so Olson arranged a photo, which appeared in Time magazine — with a shout out to The Fund.

It wasn’t long after this Atlantic City event that Hudson found out he had AIDS — he was the first international celebrity to go public with the disease. After witnessing the solidly built actor’s rapid decline and death — Olson visited him every day throughout his illness — Olson decided to devote much of his time to AIDS awareness and fundraising.

“I learned about AIDS through Rock — the devastation of AIDS through Rock — which motivated me to be more active on a hands-on basis with AIDS.”

Just after Hudson’s death, Olson announced he was going to launch The Rock Hudson Foundation for AIDS Relief. But when Elizabeth Taylor — a great friend of Hudson’s — decided to start the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, Olson called her up, and threw his support behind her, realizing Taylor could ultimately raise more money.

“So, from that time on, every time I’ve asked Elizabeth for anything, like a special autographed picture for one of our auctions, she has always come forth with something.”

Olson then decided to devote his time to finding a cure, and that’s when he became an Actors Fund Trustee, which has hands-on programs for people with AIDS, including The Actors Fund HIV/AIDS Initiative, and works to help people living with the disease in whatever way necessary. He has helped connect numerous people in need to The Fund’s social services, and has dedicated a great amount of time and numerous resources to the cause. For example, as a member of the West Coast Housing Committee for the Palm View Residence in West Los Angeles — which offers affordable housing for entertainment industry professionals living with HIV/AIDS — Olson announced its groundbreaking, placed numerous articles, and opened the building with a gala hosted by Bea Arthur and Rod Steiger.

Today, one of Olson’s top priorities is reminding the general public that, while advanced medications are — fortunately — helping those living with AIDS, it is still an enormous threat. Because much of the public now believes the disease is no longer a problem, AIDS donations have decreased over the last few years. So, Olson is especially pleased when organizations help him shine a light on the community’s continuing efforts, such as California’s Lake Arrowhead Film Festival did in 2010.

“I was so happy with the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival, which gave an award in both Rock’s and my name as heroes of AIDS Awareness, because that helps us to let people know it’s still there, and we have things to do.”

We are grateful to the many people in entertainment who have supported The Fund through the years, and continue to do so. Stay tuned as we’ll soon announce another starry night: our 2011 Annual Gala on May 23!

–Karissa Krenz