This has been a year like no other. In the affordable housing field, we're all accustomed to headwinds and funding shortages, but this year those headwinds turned into tornadoes. Steeper shortages, coupled with new federal challenges, have caused real devastation in the communities we serve. 

Yet our community partners and supporters remain hopeful and resilient, and we appreciate their unbreakable commitment. Our local team and Enterprise colleagues around the country have also remained steadfast in their work and passion. Thank you for your camaraderie.

Here's how proud thinkers, listeners, doers, and dreamers advanced ambitious housing goals in 2025.  

Securing Resources and Policy Wins 

Our team, along with a coalition of affordable housing and housing justice partners, helped secure investments for key state housing programs in the FY 25-26 State Budget. Our national Enterprise team successfully advocated to reinstate critical Section 4 funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

We also celebrated a significant win for state resources, securing $800 million annually for the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program through 2045. This win was a result of persistent advocacy from Enterprise, telling the story of the AHSC program, and working with a broad coalition of affordable housing, transportation, and climate partners. 

Our team also supported the formation of California’s first state agency, the California Housing and Homelessness Agency (CHAA), focused on streamlining state housing funding programs, aligning homelessness and housing policy, and initiating necessary cultural changes. Additionally, two Enterprise-sponsored bills were signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom this fall – Assembly Bill 670 (Quirk Silva) to strengthen preservation, and Assembly Bill 1339 (González) to address insurance challenges facing our field.

Supporting Practitioners with Capacity Building

Our team launched the California Preservation Public Sector Cohort, bringing together 27 governmental agencies from across the state, and welcomed a new cohort of fellows to the Partnership for the Bay’s Future (PBF) Fellowship, led by Coro Northern California and the San Francisco Foundation. In the Central Valley, we co-led the Stockton Housing Justice Coalition with the Reinvent South Stockton Coalition, and we convened 20 stakeholders to create a strategy to strengthen San Joaquin’s affordable housing ecosystem for 2026. The Tribal Nations team, in partnership with U.S. Bank, welcomed the second cohort of 10 California tribes to the Tribal Housing Accelerator Academy, providing technical assistance and pre-development grants for affordable homes.

This year, we worked on 16 out of the 21 awarded applications for the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities state program. As co-organizers of the Regional Housing Finance Authorities (RHFA) Exchange and in preparation for the regional housing measure in 2028, we brought together officials and stakeholders from across the state to discuss lessons learned from Los Angeles’ Measure A campaign and share them with the Bay Area.

Lastly, we proudly awarded 17 organizations across the Bay Area, Central Valley, South Bay, and Sacramento regions more than $800,000 in Section 4 capacity building grants focused on creating and preserving affordable housing, combating homelessness, and advancing climate initiatives.

Researching and Providing Thought Leadership

Our team proudly released the Decarbonizing Unsubsidized Affordable Housing: A Roadmap for Equity and Sustainability, written in partnership with LISC Bay Area and the Housing Accelerator Fund. In addition, our Central Valley team released a brief, Housing Ecosystem Initiative: Advancing Affordable Housing in San Joaquin County, detailing our perspective on what it will take to further advance affordable housing in the San Joaquin Valley with its growing housing ecosystem. Building on our statewide insurance working group and surveys this past year, our team also launched new research with Wye River Insurance to delve deeper into potential solutions to the affordable housing insurance crisis.

Investing in Affordable Homes

Enterprise Community Loan Fund provided over $5.9 million in loans to affordable housing developers, helping finance the construction of 202 affordable homes for low-income seniors and families. Enterprise Housing Credit Investments provided $180 million in equity to five Northern California developments, resulting in 665 affordable homes.  

Appreciating our Partners

In October, we hosted the 2025 Soiree by the Bay and celebrated trailblazing leaders and community partners. We raised over $260,000 for our work in Northern California, and we honored the BART Transit-Oriented Development Team as the Changemaker of the Year and the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, UC Berkeley, as the Community Partner of the Year.

We graciously thank our philanthropic funders for supporting over $1.5 million toward our program and policy work. We deeply appreciate your commitment!

The Northern California team looks forward to taking a break over the holidays and returning with rejuvenated energy, ready to take on next year’s opportunities and rise to its challenges. Cheers to 2026!