June 7, 2021

Reasons to be Cheerful: Churches Are Becoming Players in Making Cities More Affordable

Bishop Matthews, head of East Oakland, California’s Genesis Worship Center, has long appreciated the idea of home as instrumental to his spiritual mission. He mortgaged his own home twice to afford his congregation’s current home on Ritchie Street, a complex that included a parking lot, sanctuary and classroom, all to support his congregant’s various ministries and community efforts. Matthews’s successful effort to build affordable housing on church grounds is an early example of a wave of similar projects breaking ground at…
May 27, 2021

The Policy Pipeline: May 27, 2021

May 26, 2021

People’s World: Newsom proposes record-setting public spending with ‘California Comeback Plan’

With California’s finances buoyed by unanticipated tax revenues and a $27 billion boost from the American Rescue Plan, Gov. Gavin Newsom on May 14 rolled out a proposed $267.8 billion budget he called “historic” and “transformational,” with infusions of funding for housing, education, healthcare, infrastructure, environmental justice, and immediate relief for families and small businesses. Among spending priorities: Housing: Some $12 billion would go toward building affordable housing and taking other steps to house the unhoused, including increasing mental health…
May 12, 2021

Governor’s May Revision Shows Bold Leadership To Address Homelessness, Increase Affordable Housing

Governor Gavin Newsom’s May Revision to the 2021-22 state budget shows bold leadership to resource critical affordable housing and homelessness policy solutions. We urge legislators to build on the Governor’s May Revise with additional sustainable investments to scale our response to support a strong, thriving, equitable California ahead, for every community member no matter their race or income. There is a historic environment around us on all sides — a historic budget surplus and a historic level of investment toward…