Housing California
About Housing California (HCA)
Housing CA is the leading voice for affordable homes for all and an end to homelessness. Since 1979, Housing CA has worked to increase the supply and variety of decent, safe and affordable homes for homeless and low-income families. View our 2007 Annual Report.
Housing CA has three policy priorities:
- Funding for affordable homes including establishing a permanent source for the statewide housing trust fund.
- Preventing and ending homelessness with a focus on increasing the supply of homes with supportive services.
- Removing land use barriers to building more affordable homes.
View our specific 2008 Policy Priorities.
Membership and Reach: Still Growing
Through our growing membership program, we help our members reach out to thousands of active, affordable-home champions. We help members promote events, share their organization’s news, and find talented workers through our job board.
Our members represent all the major Californian regions and are active participants within our statewide coalition that includes more than 1,000 financial institutions, elected leaders, developers and advocates of affordable-homes, and homeless-service organizations.
Policy and Legislation: Leaders in the Capitol
Housing CA actively works in the halls of the California government to increase the variety of affordable homes for Californians. We carefully research and provide educational information to legislators and voters that helps shape policy and provide a voice for those in the greatest need. We work closely with advocates and lawmakers throughout California to develop and adopt effective legislation that helps fund new construction of affordable homes, works to end homelessness, and reforms land-use policy.
Premier Events: Producing the Nation’s Largest Affordable-Home Conference
Housing CA's Annual Conference, held each spring in Sacramento, CA, draws more than 1,200 attendees who participate in over 75 skill-based and policy workshops on housing-related topics. We also produce the Creating Community Conference each December in Southern California, which brings together homeless advocates, developers, and the mental health community. Both conferences provide opportunities for service providers, financial institutions, and developers to work directly with citizens advocating for more affordable homes.
Communications and Outreach: Framing the Issues and Motivating the Masses
The first step in effective communications is understanding your audience, so we work with experts to learn how Californians -- policy makers, opinion leaders, and working families at all income levels -- think about the housing market, homelessness, and creating more home affordability. We listen, so we can communicate more effectively. We then we share everything we learn with all our supporters, so they too can maximize their communications efforts.
When it comes to outreach, we work directly with thousands of home-affordability champions in California. In 2006, as part of Homes4CA, these champions worked tirelessly and the work paid off. California voters approved the $2.85 billion "Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Action of 2006 (Prop. 1C)" to fund new home and shelter construction and related programs. There's power in numbers and our numbers continue to grow! We welcome your interest in Housing CA and invite you to become more involved in helping to create a greater variety and supply of housing to meet the needs of all Californians.
