 | “Rights are won only by those who make their voices heard.”
– Harvey Milk |
| Dear Friends, Partners, and Allies, While keeping abreast of the latest legislative activities, committee hearings, and budget proposals, we have been putting the finishing touches on our upcoming Virtual (Un)Conference, which runs from June 22nd through 24th. Elected officials, thought leaders, practitioners, advocates, and people with lived expertise will discuss how to center racial justice and create Homes, Health, and Wealth for All Californians. The (Un)Conference will feature thought-provoking keynotes and plenaries, breakout sessions, and deep-dive learning labs. Check out our full conference program to learn more about our three tracks of sessions: |
| | If you haven’t already registered, why wait? Help us transform California into a state where all people can achieve homes, health, and wealth, by attending this year’s Virtual (Un)Conference. Register today! In solidarity, strength, and gratitude,
Lisa Hershey
Executive Director |
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| Housing California Welcomes New Staff We are very excited to announce the addition of two new team members who are already advancing our affordable housing and homelessness agenda by collaborating with partners, leaders, and community members to build grassroots power and realize transformative statewide policy. |
| Amber-Lee Leslie | Legislative Advocate for Land Use and Finance Amber-Lee works closely with Housing California's leadership, policy and program team, Board of Directors, resident leaders, and partners to advocate for equitable land use and affordable housing development policy statewide. |
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| Robert Villagomez | Statewide Organizer Robert focuses on increasing the capacity of the Residents United Network and advancing Housing California’s priorities to end homelessness by developing RUN leadership and working with the RUN regions to support legislative campaigns. |
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| | Help Grow the Housing Justice Movement To help us create a more just California, we hope you will support the challenging work of shaping a new housing and homelessness narrative, building and shifting power, and creating structural change we know will make the greatest impact. While Housing California has the knowledge and partnerships to effectively push for statewide legislation, we need your continued support to sustain our programs and grow our efforts. Will you help us by making a donation or joining as a member? Be our partner in the work. |
| | | Attend the Roadmap Home Plenary We’re thrilled to announce the Roadmap plenary session at our upcoming (Un)Conference, where we’ll talk about what it takes to realize the Roadmap Home’s bold agenda from some of the state’s leading housing and homelessness voices, including Tomiquia Moss, Founder and Chief Executive of All Home; Chione Flegal, Managing Director at PolicyLink; Robin Hughes, President and CEO of Abode Communities; Dr. Margot Kushel, Director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative; and Zella Knight, President of Residents United Network Los Angeles. Tune in on June 22 at 9:15am. |
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| | | On the first day of our (Un)Conference, our keynote speaker, Heather McGhee, will provide inspiration and insight into a narrative that will help bring everyone into the conversation and the solutions. It’s definitely a highlight of the event - don’t miss it! Later that day, attend our workshop on “The Power of Building a Unifying Housing Narrative” for practical tools and advice on building your best case for positive change. During our networking event on Wednesday, June 23, you will have a chance to dive in more deeply as we partner with TheCaseMade to host a chat exploring insights from Heather McGhee and how they can influence the way we build public will for the change we need in California. You will come away with some new ideas that may prove handy the next time you draft your next call to action or tweet. We hope to see you there. |
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| | Community Building at the Conference |
| We are excited about our Power-Building track at the conference. Advocacy leaders are ready to share their perspectives on lessons learned and proven approaches to organizing and shifting power through grassroots efforts. At 9:00am on Day Two of the (Un)Conference, don’t miss our workshop on “Tenant-Led Housing Justice Movements: Where Are We in 2021?” At 1:00pm, we dive into innovative local initiatives with a session on “Scaling Public-Private Partnerships to Advance Sustainable Housing and Homelessness Solutions.” |
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| RUN Summer Marathon Training Series |
| We had a full house at our first RUN Summer Marathoners training on May 26th, the first in a series of three training sessions to level up RUN leaders’ skills around homelessness advocacy. The first training focused on the stigma around homelessness, how even elected officials who appear friendly to the cause can perpetuate it, and how to prevent our opponents from dividing us. We heard powerful testimony from Peggy Pleasant, Theresa Winkler, and Anakh Sul Rama about the impact of judgement from elected officials and even our friends on the process of healing from the trauma of homelessness. Next month, we’ll build on the May training. Attendees will learn how to reframe the damaging stories we absorb about homelessness and turn them into something that unites us across the state. By the end of July, certificates in hand, leaders will be ready to use their voice with a lot more confidence and in solidarity with their neighbors in future campaigns to end homelessness. |
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| Policy Talk at the Conference |
| Repair, Reform, Transform: Changing Policy At the conference, we have several sessions that will provide an inside perspective of the discussions among state leaders and policy makers. On Day One of the conference at 1:00pm, Assemblymember David Chiu and Senator Scott Wiener join us as they talk about the state budget and the status of housing and homelessness legislation. On Day Two, State Controller Betty T. Yee; California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez; and California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly will join us to share how they are moving the affordable housing and homelessness policy agenda forward. During our Closing Keynote and Kitchen Table Talk on Day Three, Michael Tubbs, former Mayor of Stockton and Special Advisor to Governor Newsom, will discuss his role and ongoing initiatives with Chris Hoene, Executive Director of the California Budget and Policy Center. |
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| | The First Half of the Legislative Session Closes The Legislature continues to move forward in the 2021 legislative cycle. June 4th signaled the closing of the first half of the session with the house of origin deadline, meaning bills introduced in their respective houses of origin must pass out of that house by this date. Many sponsored and supported bills have either passed or failed to pass this deadline. This includes bills that were held on suspense file and converted to 2-year bills, including AB 328 (Chiu), our re-entry housing bill. AB 71 (Rivas) and SB 490 (Caballero) were both converted to 2-year bills on the floor last week. You can read the Bring California Home coalition’s statement on AB 71 here. AB 816 (Chiu), the bill around homelessness accountability, did pass off the Assembly floor with bi-partisan support. That bill will now move to the Senate in the coming weeks where it will be heard later in June. You can see all of the bills Housing California has taken a position on here. |
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| Califforinia's Surplus and Budget Planning
California has an unexpected budget surplus this year that, combined with the $26 billion the State is receiving from the federal government, allows for flexibility and additional spending on resources, programs, and services. Given the tremendous opportunity to invest in our values, Housing California is co-leading budget requests we know will make a significant impact in the lives of thousands of our neighbors struggling the most to find and keep a roof over their heads. The Roadmap Home’s 2021 package of investments included these requests and those of several partners. More than 250 people took action to urge legislative leaders to include these investments in the budget, and the Legislature’s proposal reflects a number of these priorities. |
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| Governor Newsom released his “May Revise” on May 14th and included some key affordable housing and homelessness investments, including $1.75 billion for backlogged affordable housing projects, $300 million for preservation of affordable housing, and a $12 billion package around homelessness. You can find a summary of the Governor’s May Revise proposal for housing and homelessness here . The Governor also put forward his vision of ending family homelessness in five years. The Legislature released its final proposed budget on June 2nd. The legislative budget includes many of the Governor’s investments, such as the $1.75 billion for backlogged projects, $300 million for preservation, and some of the Governor’s homelessness investments like Homekey. The biggest difference is the Legislature included an on-going investment of $1 billion in homelessness programs. This on-going commitment is something Housing California has long been fighting for, and we are thrilled to see the Legislature include this investment. We will be advocating for its inclusion in the final budget, which must be agreed upon by June 15th, and we encourage everyone to reach out to the Governor’s office to support this request. |
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| | | Support the hoUSed campaign today! Housing California has joined the HoUSed campaign from the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) as a state grantee and partner. Leadership at the federal level has signaled a willingness to advance audacious solutions affecting our infrastructure, economic recovery, and the budget. The time to act is now. We encourage you to add your organization to the #HoUSed campaign’s national sign-on letter urging congress to enact bold, long-term legislative solutions to ensure that the lowest-income and most marginalized renters have a safe, quality, affordable and accessible place to call home. Join us in urging Congress to: - Bridge the gap between incomes and housing costs by expanding rental assistance to every eligible household.
- Expand and preserve the supply of rental homes affordable to people with the lowest incomes.
- Provide emergency rental assistance to households in crisis by creating a national housing stabilization fund.
Take action now. Sign your organization onto the letter today. |
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| | | Housing California
1107 9th Street, Suite 560 | Sacramento, California 95814
916-447-0503 | staff@housingca.org |
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