SLO’s Sunny Acres could become a health campus by Restorative Partners and Homekey+ funds

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The transformation of Dan DeVaul’s Sunny Acres from a sober living program to a “healing and restoration campus” hinges on San Luis Obispo County and a local nonprofit securing a slice of a $2.2 billion state grant for the homeless.

The Los Osos Valley Road property, which DeVaul split into a facility and his personal living quarters in 2002, is the focus of a joint application filed by the county and social justice nonprofit Restorative Partners. The duo aims to gain up to $7 million from Homekey+ funding managed by the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

“We love what Sister Theresa [Harpin] does for Restorative Partners, and they’re probably the best fit,” DeVaul attorney Matt Janowicz said. “This wasn’t just a property with junk on it but there are people living there.”

Janowicz told New Times that DeVaul—now in his 80s—lives in a care facility in Virginia. His family trust owns the property, with son James DeVaul holding power of attorney.

Sunny Acres’ 23-year history has been a rocky one. Over that time, DeVaul tested the limits of his harm reduction model. Site residents—mainly people in and out of the justice system, often battling substance addiction—were put to work on the land in exchange for a place to stay and skills that kept them busy. Along with program fees, the residents brought in revenue for Sunny Acres through pumpkin, firewood, and Christmas tree sales.

But participants also experienced issues of overcrowding, unpermitted septic and power systems, and reported mistreatment at the hands of DeVaul. Following a payment of $100,000 to a court-appointed receiver in 2013, a flouted county-imposed injunction, and a property inspection in 2021, DeVaul also faced a labor lawsuit from some residents.

In 2022, DeVaul transferred power of attorney to former SLO mayoral candidate Cherisse Sweeney. Janowicz said that Sweeney is no longer involved with Sunny Acres.

Since 2023, the extensive cleanup of Sunny Acres, which included approximately 150,000 cubic yards of unpermitted grading and debris, has been under the care of the court-appointed California Receivership Group.

In mid-December 2024, a SLO Superior Court judge issued a court order confirming the sale of the property to Restorative Partners for $2.9 million.

As a consent agenda item on March 25, the SLO County Board of Supervisors paved the way for the nonprofit to raise enough money for the sale by adopting a resolution authorizing the submission of the Homekey+ application.

Receiver Mark Adams told New Times that remediation work would be completed in August, by which time he hopes Restorative Partners gathers enough money for the health and restoration campus project.

“All the work on the initial well is done, and there is another well going through inspection and permitting,” Adams said.

Nonprofit founder Theresa Harpin didn’t respond to New Times‘ multiple requests for comment, but Restorative Partners President Mark Connely told supervisors at the board meeting that the initiative “aligns perfectly” with the county’s strategic plan to address homelessness and enhance housing stability.

Connely explained that the proposed campus would have services like “education, vocational training, and social enterprises” that together address housing needs, economic self-sufficiency, and community integration. The 30 people currently living at Sunny Acres would be allowed to stay at the campus.

“Restorative Partners is committed to securing non-Homekey operating funds for at least five years to ensure long-term sustainability,” Connely said.

Homekey+ is the permanent supportive housing component of the Behavioral Health Services Act included in Proposition 1 that California voters passed in the 2024 primary election.

The grant money came up for grabs after the state’s Housing and Community Development Department and the Department of Veteran Affairs released a notice of funding availability last November. If given the grant money, Restorative Partners must construct the proposed health and restoration campus within 12 months, starting 60 days from the date of the award letter.

According to the county staff report, the projected focus of the nonprofit’s renovation efforts center on the 8,000-square-foot boarding house structure on Sunny Acres called the “horseshoe building.” Its 14 large bedrooms would become 34 smaller private bedrooms with “one household” in each unit. The current building includes walk-in storage rooms, eight shared baths, a large shared dining/recreation room, a commercial style kitchen, a walk-in freezer room, laundry, and office/counseling space.

While the receiver must ensure Sunny Acres’ health and safety issues are resolved, Adams told New Times that Restorative Partners also wants to physically move a six-bedroom Victorian house on the property out toward the road.

“We all agreed that we would talk about it,” he said. “We’re trying to make sure that’s feasible both in the house-moving sense and fiscally.”

The receivership group is correcting reported financial oversight too. Sunny Acres residents pay a couple of hundred dollars in program fees every month, which was laid out in an alleged lease between them and DeVaul.

“Those payments were going to someone who doesn’t live there,” Adams said. “When I did the calculation, $5,000 to $10,000 weren’t accounted for. There was a lot of unaccounted money that should have been audited.”

He got the court to invalidate that lease. His office set up a bank account to collect payments from the residents, and the group also took over the utility bills.

The receiver noted that his office advanced $150,000 to DeVaul’s family trust account on Feb. 28 at his attorney’s request and on a humanitarian basis. These funds would be reimbursed to the receivership out of net escrow proceeds that DeVaul’s entitled to, though he must pay off potential county penalties and receiver fees.

“California law gives discretion to receivers in doing this work,” he said. “We will report it to the judge, but I know [DeVaul] is very elderly … and has health problems. Why keep that money from him when he needs that now?” Δ

Reach Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal at brajagopal@newtimesslo.com.

This article appears in Apr 3-13, 2025.