For Immediate Release: March 25, 2021
Contact: Adam Bink
Cell: 716-725-4569
abink@spitfirestrategies.com
Contact: Christina Gotuaco
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cgotuaco@chpc.net
Advocates, experts call for action from legislature, governor amid growing number of Californians unable to pay back rent, spike in homelessness during COVID-19
SACRAMENTO — Today, Housing California and the California Housing Partnership unveiled California’s Roadmap Home 2030, a 10-year comprehensive, racial equity-centered and evidence-based framework of bold policy solutions to end homelessness and create stable, affordable homes for all Californians. Developed over the past 12 months in partnership with dozens of leading policy experts, researchers and advocates from across the state, and funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, James Irvine and Conrad N. Hilton Foundations, the solutions in the Roadmap Home offer a multi-pronged framework for legislative solutions that:
- Invest in our values by providing ongoing resources at scale to advance racial equity and creating affordable homes for people experiencing homelessness and those struggling to make ends meet.
- Promote fairness by restructuring tax and finance systems to rectify structural discrimination and generate revenue to meet the scale of the need.
- Protect people by ensuring that renters have equitable access to housing, can stay in their homes and communities, and are protected from market speculation and systemic discrimination.
- Reimagine growth by making it easier and cheaper to develop affordable homes in all communities, including opportunity-rich areas where Black, Indigenous and other people of color have been excluded.
- Create efficiency and accountability by ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and equitably through clear leadership, streamlined processes and seamless coordination.
The organizations behind California’s Roadmap Home unveiled the framework at a virtual press conference and held a virtual campaign rally calling on state legislators, Governor Newsom and key administration officials to use the framework to guide policy and budgetary decisions on housing and homelessness over the next decade.
“Past attempts at solving our homeless and housing crises have been well-intentioned but lacked two key ingredients: a clear destination and a map showing us how we get there through a sustained, long-term effort,” said Matt Schwartz, president and CEO of the California Housing Partnership. “The Roadmap Home provides both by weaving together the best ideas in the Capitol with bold, new evidence-based approaches to speed up and lower the cost of providing affordable homes for everyone at the scale we need to meet these challenges in earnest.”
Despite unprecedented publicity, funding and legislative efforts to solve housing and homelessness, California’s challenges have persisted and even worsened in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, the organizations unveiled 12 legislative priorities for 2021 and urged legislators to move quickly on them. California’s Roadmap Home builds on those solutions by offering a comprehensive, fresh approach to the way we look at housing policies, and begins the transformation of our state’s housing justice system to help meet ongoing and renewed calls to root out systemic inequities and racism across our society. Coupled with bold, innovative achievements like Project Homekey, California’s Roadmap Home will put California on the path to ending homelessness and unlocking affordable homes for all by 2030.
“As we see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, now is exactly the time to take stock of the existing inequities that have been exacerbated – and how to resolve them,” said Lisa Hershey, executive director of Housing California. “Whether it’s earthquake safety, a reliable energy grid, overcoming drought or racial injustice, Californians have always proven not only resilient but also able to use monumental moments to reshape our state for good – IF we have a plan. The Roadmap Home is the right plan at the right time to unlock homes, health and prosperity in thriving, sustainable communities for all.”
“We share the Roadmap Home goals of creating new, more deeply affordable housing, protecting renters, ending homelessness and closing racial equity gaps,” said Lourdes Castro Ramírez, Secretary of the state’s Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. “The bold, creative ideas in the Roadmap will be carefully considered in the coming weeks as the state budget begins to take final shape. It also is on point in stressing the need for a robust federal partnership to tackle California’s housing and homelessness issues.”
“COVID-19 exacerbated existing inequities experienced by Californians, foremost among them unaffordable and unstable housing. As we begin to recover from the pandemic’s damaging impacts, we must think longer-term about how to address our underlying challenges,” said Assemblymember David Chiu. “The state needs a longterm plan with clear goals to address homelessness and housing access and California’s Roadmap Home is a great jumping off point.”
“We must tackle the housing and homelessness epidemic from every level of government and all parts of our community if we are to have a state and region that we can be proud of,” declared Tomiquia Moss, Founder and Chief Executive of All Home. “One that is diverse, inclusive and affordable for all those who call California home. It is unacceptable to continue to allow so many Californians to languish and die on our streets because we are not able to take bold, concise action that disrupts this crisis once and for all. The Roadmap Home provides the long-term plan with a clear vision and measurable goals that we need to get us all to the destination.”
“As someone who knows firsthand what it’s like to lose a home, there is too much at stake for Californians, like me, who are worried about keeping their homes,” said Zella Knight, Resident Leader, Residents United Network (RUN). “I believe California’s Roadmap Home will bring our efforts together to help the people of today and tomorrow.”
“Roadmap Home is exactly the kind of forward-thinking, equity-centered approach we need to reduce the number of Californians experiencing homelessness or struggling to pay their rent,” added Ruby Bolaria Shifrin, Director of Housing Affordability at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. “The pandemic has pulled the curtain back on inequities in our housing system that already existed and have only gotten worse. We have a critical window of opportunity to embrace solutions that will make safe, affordable housing a reality for all. We urge California policymakers to commit to these priorities immediately.”
“The economic power of low-income workers, our greatest concern, is in even more jeopardy with COVID-19,” said Leslie Payne, Senior Program Officer at the James Irvine Foundation. “Economic mobility is inextricably linked to a safe, affordable roof over one’s head, and we have an important opportunity in the pandemic’s wake to change how we encourage housing affordability. Roadmap Home dreams big and bold – exactly the approach we need to reimagine building affordable housing, securing tenant protections, and ending homelessness. California leaders should turn this 10-year vision, paired with equity- and evidence-based solutions, into a reality.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed vast inequities for Californians experiencing homelessness. Now is the time for our government partners to meaningfully invest in sustained and long-term permanent housing solutions to truly end and prevent homelessness,” said Andrea Iloulian, senior program officer at the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. “California’s Roadmap Home charts this path forward, meeting this moment with a bold, comprehensive plan shaped by Californians with lived experience.”
To learn more about California’s Roadmap Home 2030, visit RoadmapHome2030.org.
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