Evelyn Stivers
San Mateo County needs a minimum of $30 million a year for affordable homes.
In our county, there are almost 35,000 households earning very-low or extremely-low incomes, and fewer than 10,000 homes for those income levels. This means that thousands of our residents are often living in overcrowded conditions, paying over half of their income in rent or sleeping in their cars.
We know how to solve the problem. We need land, leadership and funding to create the homes we need. Every city in San Mateo County has identified sites for affordable homes and are working to entitle new homes, but funding from the county budget is critical. Most affordable homes secure many sources of funding, but local money is required to attract and compete for the other sources. Most cities, while they have some money, need additional resources from the county to make the affordable homes viable.
Understandably, there’s some skepticism about our ability to meet the overwhelming housing need. But thousands of individuals have benefited from our investments. Take Eva, for example. Before she moved into affordable housing, she lived in her overcrowded son’s home in San Mateo County. She slept in the living room. Fortunately for her, San Mateo County in partnership with Foster City, provided funding for Alma Point. This building provides 66 one-bedroom apartments for seniors earning up to $52,650 for a household of two. The community includes a computer lab, community room with kitchen, balance studio and a landscaped terrace. Eva would not have her own apartment, with access to these services, if the county hadn’t allocated money for affordable homes.
Last year, the county allocated $23 million in funding for 1,700 new affordable homes. While this is an incredible achievement, affordable housing builders applied for $50 million in funding. Not having the full amount of funding allows the proposed developments to move forward, but much slower. These delays make the cost of the housing rise.
Now that Eva has stable and adequate housing she can afford, she cooks for her friends and neighbors three times a week. She also cooks for teachers at the local elementary school. If you ask her about her favorite part of her apartment building, she’ll smile widely and say, “The kitchen! Everyone comes here in the mornings to chat and eat and socialize together. My neighbors are my family.”
Unfortunately, there are populations who need housing in San Mateo County that we have not yet been able to serve. Parents throughout the county are trying to find housing for their children with developmental disabilities, mental health issues or other challenges where their children need services and affordable homes. According to the Department of Developmental Services, San Mateo County is home to 3,912 people with developmental disabilities, of whom 2,685 are adults. Of this adult population, fewer than 300 (only 11 percent of the adult population) live in their own apartment. That is not usually by choice — many adults seek to live in community rental housing but remain in their parent’s home because of the lack of other housing options.
The solution is clear and backed by data — more county funding means more affordable homes. In 2013, the Board of Supervisors created the Affordable Housing Fund. Since then, the production of affordable homes in San Mateo County has increased from an average of 100 affordable homes a year back in the ’80s to 1000 affordable homes currently being approved or built.
While balancing the budget is always challenging, the need and the opportunity for affordable homes have never been so great. There are thousands of people in our community who are hanging on by a thread, and we have the chance to provide life-changing shelter and services. Let’s step up to the occasion.
Later this month, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors will discuss how much money to allocate for affordable housing in the 2020-2022 budget cycle. I urge them to invest at least $30 million per year in county funding to provide San Mateo County residents the dignity, security and stability that comes with a home.
Evelyn Stivers is the executive director of the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County.
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(5) comments
We haven’t raised taxes on ourselves to fund affordable housing for others. Our taxes are used for paying unfunded public employee benefits, education for children in our country illegally, healthcare for those who have no insurance yet utilize our emergency rooms, ect, ect. Ms. Stivers must think we the taxpayers have unlimited money to pay for the housing of others yet we to struggle with our own housing expenses and the cost of living. For all the socialist housing activists out there, who want more money for affordable housing, break out your own checkbooks and write a check. You were not elected and your opinion means absolutely nothing. Stop putting the responsibility of others and your personal agenda on the backs of taxpayers.
Not sure I exactly see what the win here is. There was a family who was a bit cramped where everyone was already housed. A member of that family won an affordable housing lottery. At the end of the day that family has less money since there are now two rents to be paid even though one is subsidized. I live in a multi-generational household and some how we are able to make things work just fine.
If we want to talk about affordable housing in Foster City then it should be mentioned one of their projects only has to stay affordable until 2022, and then it is at the developers discretion whether or not to keep the units affordable. I certainly hope we do not use Measure K or any local tax money on short-term affordable housing projects.
I enjoyed Ms. Stivers' article. However, in my opinion there is a problem always using the term "affordable". "Affordable" as defined by those both approving and building these developments is often NOT "affordable" for a great percentage of the population. "Affordable" appears to be defined by a narrowly-defined demographic. Perhaps "low income" and "extremely low income" would be more appropriate for much of housing actual required.
The sunsetting of affordable housing is a real issue. If affordable housing isn't deeded you are just kicking the proverbial can down the street.
We should not forget that this ever-increasing population of 'executive directors' is hired to articulate sob stories and pull multi-million dollar solutions out of thin air while feathering their own nests.
Even the County is getting into it by proposing to hire an executive director. He or she is to develop a program to address sea level rise that we may, repeat may, start to experience by 2050. We are so fortunate to have climatologist who cannot predict the weather tomorrow or next week with any accuracy but are certain of their forecast for 2050 and beyond. Most of the activists pushing this issue will be long gone thereby leaving the next generation to pay for a staff that has probably served no purpose.
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