Chen, a 22-year-old assistant at a Santa Clara law firm, rejoiced in her good fortune but she didn't expect Vista Village would be so homey.

"When you think of affordable housing, you don't expect it to be attractive," Chen says. "But here everything is new. We have a new refrigerator, new carpet and new shelves in the cabinets. It is impossible to rent a decent one-bedroom apartment in Cupertino like this for $825."

Chen and her mother were one of three families that have moved into Vista Village. The others will move in at the end of May.

Vista Village is the first housing project developed, owned and operated by Cupertino Community Services. At 22,000 square feet, the $7.2-million apartment complex features 12 one-bedroom and 12 two-bedroom apartment units encircling two courtyards. Tenants pay $825 a month for one-bedroom apartments and $975 for two-bedrooms.

The apartments are available only to those who qualified as very-low-income families. A qualifying family of four, for example, can earn no more than $52,750.

"The project is a statement about how Cupertino cares about its most vulnerable members," says Mary Ellen Chell, the social service agency's former executive director, who initiated the Vista Village project.

The seeds for this housing project were planted in 1994, when Kathy Espinoza-Howard, then the housing and homeless coordinator for the Santa Clara County, suggested Chell look into the possibility of building affordable housing on the project's current site, which is owned by the Santa Clara County Fire District.

Chell let the idea sit for two years until the agency gained experience acquiring and converting a fourplex into transitional housing in 1996.

Still, there were challenges in getting a housing project of this kind going.

"We had to get the approval of the CCS board of directors, the local government, the neighbors and the community at large," Chell says. "We had to educate people that affordable housing was not necessarily crime-ridden and ugly. It can be an attractive place for people who work in the community but can't afford the rent."

Finally, after gaining the community's support, the project was formally kicked off in 2000. The project was completed within 18 months and had its grand opening April 29.

"So many people, businesses and organizations have worked hard to make this dream become a reality," says Jaclyn Fabre, executive director of Cupertino Community Services. "We as a community should be very proud."

Fabre is also proud of the fact that Vista Village is the new home of Cupertino Community Services, a nonprofit organization that has provided food, emergency financial help, and case management for the needy since 1973.

The increasing demand for service meant the agency had long outgrown its original site at Quinlan Community Center. In 2002, Cupertino Community Services' client base increased by 30 percent. Every corner of the office was crammed with donated food and clothes. Caseworkers didn't have a private space to talk to their clients.

But all this has changed. At the agency's new 4,500-square-foot office, the food pantry is four times the size of the old one, with commercial freezers and a spacious food processing area. Donated clothes are hung in a closet. Social workers can talk to clients in their private offices. Waiting clients can sit at the agency's new reception area.

"We are so happy that the clients can receive services with dignity in a pleasant environment," says Erica Mayer, the agency's director of housing services. "This is made possible by the whole community."

The new location of Cupertino Community Services is 10104 Vista Drive in Cupertino. For more information, call 408.255.8033 or visit www.cupertinocommunityservices.org.