This past week, Community Corporation of Santa Monica announced a joint partnership with Venice-based Hoop Bus Inc. to revitalize the First Baptist Church, located at 685 Westminster Ave in the Oakwood neighborhood. The 40,439 square foot property, including the church and two adjacent parking lots, was first acquired by the Community Corporation in March 2023, with the church being reimagined as a community and cultural center.
The organization owns just over 2,000 affordable homes in Santa Monica, as well as buildings in the City of Los Angeles and Mar Vista, but this project serves as both the Corporation’s first expansion into Venice and the first revitalization project for the nonprofit. The Corporation was asked if they’d be interested in the church by local officials when it hit the market, thinking the nonprofit would “be a potentially good caretaker” of the “historically significant” property, said Community Corporation Executive Director Tara Barauskas. The church was founded as an African-American church in 1910, serving as an anchor of the Oakwood section of Venice’s African-American residents. The current church building opened in 1967, and remained a spot for the church congregation until it was sold to a private owner in 2017, with the congregation relocating to Westchester.
“As we’ve been building affordable housing over the years, we recognize that there are a lot of needs in the community, particularly for low income people but also in the surrounding community,” Barauskas said. “I’ve definitely heard more than one person say ‘well, it’s great that you’re building this here, but what’s in it for us’ … I’ve often thought about that question, what more we can do for the community … so we actually had started trying to address that in some of our newer buildings.”
In trying to “step their game up” in terms of helping the community, the organization has been “working closely” with the Oakwood community to figure out the best usage for the property. The nonprofit recognizes the building’s status as a “sacred space,” with an idea gestating to allow faith-based groups to rent out the church for services, along with using the church as a meeting and event location. For youth activities and programs, the organization found the aid of Hoopbus, a nationally-recognized community engagement service that is helping the Corporation fundraise the church’s revival.
Founded by the Venice Beach basketball community in 2019, Hoopbus promotes social and emotional learning at schools through “PE Takeovers,” engaging youth in basketball activities and community events in parks and playgrounds, including the Oakwood Recreation Center. The organization operates a fleet of five converted school buses that run community programs in the Venice area and across the United States. Hoopbus offered another example of its commitment to Oakwood and surrounding Venice neighborhoods during the 2023 holiday season, providing over 50 Christmas trees and thousands of presents to low-income residents.
“Hoopbus is humbled by the opportunity to be a part of the effort to revitalize the First Baptist Church of Venice, and this historic corner of the Oakwood community,” Hoopbus Executive Director Dan Moroni said. “We strive to embody the values of openness and creativity found in the Oakwood community and hope to strengthen our local bonds and inspire our future [generations].”
Barauskas commended Hoopbus’ efforts in the project, stating that there has been “great synergy from the start” of the partnership and that the organization is a boon for fundraising, since the Corporation cannot use traditional housing funding for the functionally different revitalization project.
“They want to help young people [as well as] connect communities,” Barauskas said. “Connecting community is something that is really foundational to us, and they’re also willing to reach out to other fundraising partners that we currently don’t have access to. I think that’s really complementary to the work we want to do.”
Another vital part of project planning is the intention to convert the church’s adjacent parking lots into a 100% affordable housing development. The housing arm of the project is also in the “early design stages,” Barauskas said, figuring out how much housing can be provided, but added that the housing will most likely be geared towards low-income families.