REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Proclamation of Affordable Housing Week
Report
BACKGROUND
SV@Home is a membership organization that advocates for policies, programs, land use and funding to increase the supply of affordable housing. Additionally, SV@Home educates elected officials and the community about the need for housing and the link between housing and other quality of life outcomes, including education, health, transportation and the environment.
Other parts of the Bay Area have had long-standing nonprofit organizations that advocate for affordable housing, including the East Bay Housing Organizations and the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County. In 2014, the South Bay did not have a similar organization in place working to tackle the high cost of housing, the significant shortage of affordable housing and rising concerns about quality of life. With funding from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and Enterprise Community Partners, leaders from Housing Trust Silicon Valley, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (collectively, "Stakeholders") created a stakeholder process to consider whether a more formal, consistent and full-time effort was needed.
After a year of study, the Stakeholders agreed to form a new housing policy and advocacy organization to target Santa Clara County and its 15 cities. Based on Stakeholder feedback, it was decided that this organization - named SV@Home, or Silicon Valley at Home - would advocate for the housing needs of the wide range of individuals struggling from the lack of affordable housing, from those who are homeless, to those with fixed incomes, to those who work in our service or manufacturing sectors, to those who work for our leading employers. Additionally, the Stakeholders agreed that SV@Home membership would be broad, including both nonprofit and for-profit housing developers, local government agencies, nonprofit community partners, busines...
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