Our team works across the Bay Area and the Central Valley to ensure that Californians have a quality, affordable place to call home by advancing equitable development opportunities. Recent highlights include the launch of the Stockton Housing Innovation Fund, participation in the San Mateo Housing Leadership Day Conference, and the celebration of Bay Area Housing Finance Authority's milestones.
Celebration at the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority
The three-year wait to celebrate the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority’s (BAHFA) numerous milestones since the passage of AB 1487 in 2019 was well worth it. The 120 celebrants – funders, advocates and local government agencies – were joined by a host of local and state elected officials, including Napa Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, and State Senators Dave Cortese and Scott Weiner.
We cheered securing a $20 million investment from the 2020 California budget surplus, hiring inaugural director Kate Hartley and her team, launching five pilots and a business plan and closing its first affordable housing preservation deal. The crowd was also energized by the upcoming 2024 campaigns – including the state campaign to lower the voter threshold to a simple majority for housing bonds and the $10- to $20-billion Bay Area housing funding measure.
We were thrilled to honor the partnerships the Bay Area Housing for All Coalition has built with BAHFA, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments, and we are looking forward to our continued work together to make the Bay Area a place where everyone has a safe and affordable home.
San Mateo Housing Leadership Day Conference
We were thrilled to participate in the San Mateo Housing Leadership Day Conference in late October, organized by our partners at Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo. The conference was attended by more than 180 affordable housing supporters and featured several workshops ranging from how to build affordable housing on public land to innovations for extremely low-income housing.
Geeta Rao spoke on a panel with Somaya Abdelgany from Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA), Raymond Hodges from San Mateo County’s Department of Housing and East Palo Alto Council-member Carlos Romero. They discussed BAHFA’s pilot programs and the upcoming 2024 campaigns -- the State campaign to lower the voter threshold to a simple majority for housing bonds and the $10-$20 billion Bay Area housing funding measure. A highlight from the conference was RE-ENTRIFICATION: Re-Imagining Housing Through the Arts by Lyrical Opposition. Check out the recordings of the keynote speaker, workshops, and performances.
Stockton Housing Innovation Fund
We are proud to announce our selection as the administrator of the inaugural round of the newly created Stockton Housing Innovation Fund (SHIF), in partnership with the Community Foundation of San Joaquin. The SHIF is designed to invest resources into local organizations dedicated to developing innovative programs and policies to improve housing production and access. We look forward to working with the SHIF’s Community Oversight Board on deploying additional resources across San Joaquin County in response to the ongoing, overwhelming need for affordable homes.
