As manager of SP Investment Fund LLC, Gil Seton oversees subsidized housing communities for low-income families and senior citizens throughout the United States. His role with SP Investment Fund LLC also includes facilitating social and educational services for the residents of communities which SP Investment Fund and/or its affiliates control. In that regard, Gil Seton has had the opportunity to work with various nonprofit organizations, including LifeSTEPS.
LifeSTEPS was founded in 1996 to provide “skills training and educational programs” (STEPS) to children, youth, adults, and families living in affordable housing. To achieve that goal, LifeSTEPS contracts with affordable housing developers to deliver support services, including short-term emergency financial assistance, to residents of the low-income communities. Currently, LifeSTEPS services more than 65,000 residents in over 220 senior and affordable housing communities in California.
In 2012, LifeSTEPS launched its Summer Reading /Learning Loss Prevention Program in Sacramento. Based upon the success of that pilot program, it was implemented throughout the state of California in 2015. The program begins each summer with an evaluation of each child’s reading level. The children start the program reading books at their assessed levels and progress to more advanced books over the course of the summer. The program also includes games and activities to help the children view reading as a fun activity. At the end of the summer, program coordinators reevaluate the children’s reading levels and award their success with a party for the children and their parents. In 2016, 95 percent of the program’s participants had maintained their reading levels, and over half had improved by at least one grade level.
