What Happens if We Lose CalHome?

You've heard a lot from us about CalHome in the past few weeks, and unfortunately, the fate of CalHome is looking grim. Despite months of advocacy – including from many of you, who sent messages to our state leaders – the state budget is likely to zero out CalHome for next year. This would have devastating consequences for Habitat for Humanity affiliates up and down the state. More importantly, it would have a terrible impact on the thousands of low-income Californians whose bridge to homeownership just got far narrower as a result.

Why is CalHome so important?

In short, it's the single state funding source for building and rehabilitating affordable ownership housing. And when you consider that about a third of the funding to build a typical Habitat home in California comes from government sources, you can see what a lifeline that single state source is. There's a reason we advocated for close to a decade to get CalHome into the state budget in the first place – a feat we were finally able to celebrate in 2022 – and have fought hard to retain it.

Habitat affiliates of all sizes serving communities from urban to rural rely on CalHome. It's a concrete answer to the dearth of housing supply in our state, and one that invests in access to homeownership – which means it invests in a transformative opportunity that is associated with positive outcomes in health, financial wellness, education, generational wealth-building, and more. It's a way to create economic mobility and redress racial inequities perpetuated for far too long through housing. It's a tool to reverse the tide of Californians priced out of their neighborhoods, forced into supercommutes, or pushed right out of the state. 

So, what does this mean for Habitat East Bay/Silicon Valley? 

The potential zeroing out of CalHome is deeply concerning. There are those who point out that some funding is left in the coffers – which, while technically true, is far too little and its release far too tenuous for a program already underfunded and oversubscribed. What's more troubling, though, is our ability to build into the future. We have invested years into planning a robust housing pipeline. Ambitious plans have us building close to 300 homes in the next five years. Those visions must be seriously called into question without a reliable source of state funding available. That's the dream of homeownership for hundreds of people in the East Bay and Silicon Valley alone, hanging in the balance, and it's a quandary that our sister affiliates are facing throughout California.

What can we do about this?

1. Continue fighting for CalHome.

The budget is being finalized, and while the prospects look slim, we can still keep pushing. Take one minute to tell our state leaders to save CalHome. Then, we must continue to advocate for CalHome funding next year, and the groundwork for that fight begins now. When budget negotiations take place for next year's budget, Habitat for Humanity will be working hard to garner support among our legislators, building a coalition of advocates, and galvanizing our incredible community to let our leaders know that CalHome must be restored. So, be ready to make your voice heard.