Are you ready for Affordable Housing Month? Here’s a sneak preview of our list of events in May 2021. Please stay tuned for confirmed dates and registration details:

• Advocacy 101
• COVID & Resilience: Wellness Design Considerations
• Growing Home: Youth Poetry, Art & Music Showcase 
• My Housing Story: Voices of People of Color with Disabilities
• Emerging trends in affordable housing construction
• ADUs: Fulfilling the Promise of Affordable Housing in 2021
• Housing Policy = Climate Policy: Addressing our Climate Crisis through affordable housing advocacy
• Supporting ELI Families through Public-Private Partnership: Learnings from Facebook and Partners
• Racial Exclusionary Zoning and School Funding
• Affordable Homes in San Mateo County Tour
• Arroyo Green E-book Grand Opening 
• The Making of Montara, an affordable housing project in Bay Meadows Master Plan Development

We would not be able to hold Affordable Housing Month without the support of our sponsors. Sponsorships are an integral part of HLC's events program, and allows us to engage wider audiences and spread our mission. If you are able to support, it is not too late! We would love to partner with you to bring more impactful and informative events to our supporters. 

Join us on NextDoor

There are two new pro-housing groups in Redwood City and San Mateo! If you are interested in being a part of them, please email Alex at amelendrez@hlcsmc.org. 

We take action, start discussions, have fun, and connect with each other. It is a great opportunity to get involved in your community and take Nextdoor back from the NIMBYs!

Moss Beach Homes Approved by Coastal Commission

Last Friday, the California Coastal Commission, with emphatic support of more affordable housing, unanimously approved the changes to the Local Coastal Plan. This means that the land is now unlocked for the 71 affordable homes! 

We want to thank the California Coastal Commissioners for their leadership and strong support of affordable housing. Click here for a recent Half Moon Bay Review article about the approval.

Next Steps: We know many of you are eagerly asking for what the next steps are and we are so excited that this excites YOU! The next action step would be for the 71 affordable homes to receive a coastal development permit. We don’t know when that will be, but in the meantime, please share this petition with someone new! 

County of San Mateo Launches Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Update 

The County needs your help identifying solutions to the problems associated with natural hazards. 

The County of San Mateo has begun to update the Multijurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan to address threats such as climate change, drought, earthquakes, flooding, heat, landslides and pandemics. People who live in San Mateo County are invited to contribute and participate of the 2021 Plan Update, by identifying hazards of concern and mitigation solutions to make San Mateo County more resilient.

Note: This survey is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Tongan!

💰New Funding Opportunity

There’s a new pot of money and it’s called Community Project Funding, an opportunity for proposals (including housing!) to receive federal funds. To learn more, click here.

To request money for a specific project, please fill out this form.

California Rent Relief is here! 📢 Eligible Renters can apply for assistance with unpaid rent and utilities. We must build toward an equitable recovery! According to a Bay Area Equity Atlas analysis, San Mateo County has an estimated 10,945 households experiencing forms of renter debt. Please share this information with those severely impacted by COVID19. 

California landlords who have one or more eligible renters can apply to get reimbursed for 80% of each eligible renter’s unpaid rent between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, if they agree to waive the remaining 20% of unpaid rent for that specific time period. Undocumented tenants are eligible.

Application link (english): https://housing.ca.gov/covid_rr/index.html 

Application link (spanish): https://housing.ca.gov/covid_rr/index_esp.html

Register for the 25th Affordable Housing Leadership Awards!

Our partners at Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH) is hosting a virtual-yet-connected event to celebrate our affordable housing movement and honor some of our most inspiring housers, all from the comfort and safety of your home! It will be a special opportunity to connect, recharge, and be together as a movement and industry. 

The 25th Leadership Awards is coming up on Thursday, April 29th at 4:30 PM PST, so make sure to reserve your spot now!

 Policy Committee

Are you interested in joining a diverse group of community members and professionals to help HLC create a more equitable San Mateo County through it’s policy decisions? Then our Policy Committee is the place to be!

Please contact Ken at kchan@hlcsmc.org for more details!

From our Partners at Bay Area Housing for All

The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) is a government entity that was created to act as a financing and policy tool used to promote housing affordability and to address our region’s housing issues. Jointly governed and staffed the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), members provide technical assistance and coordination to local jurisdictions to help meet their housing needs and enable regional ballot measures to help fund housing affordability and stability across the “3 P’s” of tenant protection, production, and preservation.

To address the housing challenges facing our residents in both the Peninsula and the region as a whole, Staff at BAHFA have identified and have requested $18.5 million from our state’s general fund to support five pilot programs: 

1. Doorway – an online platform to connect residents to opportunities for affordable homes across the region. 
2. Affordable Housing Pipeline – a database to track the production and preservation of affordable homes. 
3. Preservation Strategy – financing and technical assistance to support and scale anti-displacement efforts.  
4. Homelessness Prevention System – the design and implementation of a coordinated homeless prevention strategy across the Bay Area in order to keep our community members housed.
5. Rental Assistance Network – the development of a regional network of rental and mortgage assistance providers to deploy funds more efficiently and effectively.

BAHA has written a letter in support of the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority’s request and HLC is proud to join our regional partners as a signatory.

If your organization is interested in joining us, please contact JR Starrett of Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California at jr@nonprofithousing.org. 

Affordable Housing Finance Informational Session - What did we Learn?

Last night, March 18th, Andrea Osgood of Eden Housing, Kate Comfort-Harr of HIP Housing, and Carlos Castellanos of Alta Housing helped make “cents” of your questions on how affordable homes are created.

Click here to see the top three questions that were “burning a hole in everyone’s pockets!”

Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your web browser