Special article for The Post
The following letter to California’s elected leaders was co-authored last month by Fred Blackwell, CEO of the San Francisco Foundation, and Miguel Santana, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation.
There are approximately 50,000 affordable housing units ready to break ground across California waiting for funding to begin construction and provide housing for low-income families and individuals.
But in the latest budget negotiations unfolding in Sacramento, the May amendments would nearly eliminate General Fund funding for affordable housing and homelessness solutions, except for the state’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit, proposing roughly $2 billion in cuts to key funding promised in the previous budget.
With homelessness rates at record levels and housing prices soaring, our state cannot afford these cuts, and our communities cannot in good conscience accept them. We must finish this job. California has made great progress in advancing affordable housing solutions, and we must continue to build on this momentum with every tool and resource available to us.
As philanthropists working across California, our organization is committed to creating vibrant communities, and at the center of our mission is access to fair, equitable and affordable housing. As our legislators and the Governor move through final budget negotiations, they must make big choices about how to invest our state dollars to preserve and improve the well-being of Californians. Housing must be a top priority.
Lawmakers and the Governor must work together to craft a final budget that restores funding for housing investments, including funding for the Multifamily Housing Program (MHP), the state’s largest and most flexible affordable housing construction program, which is central to the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HCD) ability to advance housing solutions for California residents.
And I will double down on my commitment to prioritize bold investments and structural reforms that will help achieve housing equity and reduce the racial disparities caused by decades of systemic racism and underinvestment.
Housing is essential for our communities to thrive. Without housing, people lose jobs, experience limited opportunities and suffer poor health. When housing improves, everyone benefits.
Children do better in school, people live longer, and it’s easier to find and keep a job. The California Community Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation have stepped up their efforts to ensure that everyone has a place to live, because we know housing is a prerequisite for building stable, vibrant communities.
But the levels of funding needed to give everyone a safe home cannot be met by charities and non-profits alone. Research confirms our daily experience: we have both a desperate need and a strong public will to act.
As a result, more donors are funding housing, nonprofits are shifting their focus, and local governments are taking bold steps in pursuit of revenue. In both the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County, for example, local agencies and civic leaders are seeking to advance local funding sources designed to invest in affordable housing solutions.
The state must do its part by making bold investments in affordable housing and solutions to homelessness during the current state budget cycle.
We are at a critical moment of decision that will test our ability to make a deep and lasting impact on our communities. In this moment, lawmakers must actively choose to prioritize solutions, progress, and our future.
California’s housing crisis is often described in terms of the number of homeless and behind on rent, but these are more than just numbers. They are people. They — and we are — are all Californians. We are our families, our children, our veterans, our seniors, our neighbors.
As the California Legislature and Governor finalize a budget for Californians, we urge them to put our communities first, as they count on us to do the right thing. Affordable housing solutions are what Californians need now more than ever.
The need for housing investment is clear, and the choice is yours.
Fred Blackwell is CEO of the San Francisco Foundation, one of the largest community foundations in the U.S. The San Francisco Foundation collaborates with donors, community leaders, and public and private partners to build vibrant communities across the Bay Area.
Miguel A. Santana is President and CEO of the California Community Foundation (CCF), which has been serving Southern California since 1915. Committed to leading positive systemic change that strengthens communities, CCF manages more than $2 billion in assets and provides an estimated $300 million in grants annually to hundreds of nonprofit organizations.
