Affordable Housing Projects Receive Grants

A San Francisco wholesale lending bank announced yesterday that it will award about $3 million in grant funding to affordable housing projects in Berkeley and Oakland.

Berkeley's Amistad House and Harrison House were notified by The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco in December of their awards, receiving $767,000 and $350,00 respectively.

The bank allocates the grants every May and December to affordable housing projects for low to moderate income residents, according to Kevin Blackburn, assistant vice president of the bank.

"Since 1990, over $27 million of affordable housing programs grants have been awarded to affordable housing," he said.

Amistad House is open to limited-income seniors and the disabled in Berkeley. Harrison House is an emergency shelter for the homeless.

Blackburn said the funding will be available to the recipients for four years, available to be withdrawn in increments as needed.

This funding comes from 10 percent of the bank's profits set aside specifically for the housing projects, Blackburn said. He added that there is a monitoring mechanism in place to ensure that funds are being used for the purpose for which they were awarded.

According to Councilmember Darryl Moore, this is helping to address a problem with affordable housing in Berkeley.

Moore said the city strives to allocate $1 million or more each year to its housing trust fund. But this amount is not enough to provide affordable housing for the city's low-income

workforce.

"They are suffering because the nonprofit developer can't get loans to build affordable housing," Moore said. "(Also), once the affordable housing is built, families can't get mortgages from the banks because they have tightened their lending policies."

The bank announced the grants at an event honoring Rep. Barbara Lee, who has been a staunch supporter of affordable housing throughout her long career in Congress, according to a press release.

Lee received the Friend of Affordable Housing Award from the bank.

"She's been very active in Congress and in her community in support of affordable housing," said Cynthia Lopez, vice president of marketing for the bank.

Moore said it is uncertain how much more aid affordable projects will be getting from the economic stimulus package. He said that he has heard that the city could possibly receive $8 million.

"I would like to see some of the stimulus money go towards building affordable housing units," Moore said. "If it were $8 million, I would prefer 25 percent (go to affordable housing)".

Tags: AFFORDABLE HOUSING