PRESS RELEASE
From the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County
Contact: Maury Kendall, Senior Communications Manager
Office: (408) 436-3450, ext. 3#
(cell) 408-691-9913

Embargoed: not for release before Friday, July 8, 2005


Halfway to (an affordable) Home:
Housing Trust Raises +$5 million in 126 days, taking it halfway to funding campaign goal

(San Jose, CA: July 8, 2005) The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County today announced that it has raised more than $5 million in 126 days, reaching the halfway point of an ambitious three-year campaign to raise an additional $10 million aimed at creating affordable homes for at least another 3,000 families.

On February 22, 2005 the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County announced “Phase III,” a funding campaign designed to raise at least $10 million and to help at least 1,000 families each year for each of the next three years with the invested proceeds. Today the Trust’s Board of Directors announced that as of July 1, 2005 the Phase III campaign had raised more than half of that goal – almost $5.5 million in public and private funds - in just four months. Phase III has already attracted confirmed funding or pledges from 12 of the 15 cities and towns in Santa Clara County, along with generous support from the county government and from dozens of Valley employers, employer foundations and citizens.

“When we launched this three-year fundraising effort just four months ago, in a local economy still struggling to get back on its feet, we knew we were asking a lot to raise $10 million more for affordable homes” said Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO and Housing Trust Co-Founder Carl Guardino. “We are both humbled and stunned to have already surpassed the half-way point in just the first four months. The response underscores the unique strength of Silicon Valley as a region of ‘doers and donors,’ rather than ‘talkers and takers’.”

About the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County America’s pioneering public-private affordable housing investment trust was formed through a partnership with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the County Board of Supervisors, the Collaborative for Housing and Homeless Issues, and Community Foundation: Silicon Valley. The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County has raised more than $30 million in local public and private contributions, and has invested more than $18.1 million in affordable housing opportunities throughout Santa Clara County. Since they began distributing funds in August, 2001, the Trust has already helped more than 4,500 families, including helping 1,260 families buy their first homes in Santa Clara County; enabled the development of 1,249 units of affordable rental housing, worth over $285 million; and helped create hundreds of units of shelter and special-needs housing in our community, making it possible for people like teachers, police officers, firefighters, nurses and civic employees to live in the communities they serve. The Trust has leveraged every dollar invested into the creation of at least $40 worth of affordable housing in Santa Clara County.

Phase III government support (three year totals)

Campbell $300,000
County of Santa Clara $750,000
Cupertino (meets July)
Gilroy $75,000
Los Altos did not participate
Los Altos Hills $15,000
Los Gatos $300,000
Milpitas $150,000 (one-time grant)
Monte Sereno $15,000
Morgan Hill $200,000
Mountain View $450,000
Palo Alto (meets in July)
San Jose (meets in August)
Santa Clara $750,000
Saratoga did not participate
Sunnyvale (meets in July)
Total to date $3,005,000



Phase III private support (top 15 private donors*)
To date, there have been 105 individual employers, employer foundation, and private citizen contributions to the Phase III Campaign.

Robert Noyce Trust $250,000 (challenge grant: met)
Anonymous $225,000
Federal Home Loan Bk $224,487
Applied Materials $200,000
Adobe Systems $150,000
Agilent Technologies $150,000
Cisco Systems $150,000
Synopsys $150,000
Solectron $110,000
Seagate $105,000
Knight-Ridder $100,000
KB Home $96,800
Citibank $75,000
John and Ann Doerr $50,000
Mid-Peninsula Bank $50,000

*Totals do not include corporate employee and executive matching gifts