Housing Trust Leverage Tops $1 Billion

(San Jose: June 25, 2006) Investments from the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County have helped create more than $1 billion in affordable housing, the community benefit organization reported today.

With a $650,000 commitment in June to Bridge Housing for a senior housing development in Palo Alto, the Trust has invested more than $22.7 million in loans and grants to non-profit developers and to first-time homebuyers, creating 5,688 affordable housing opportunities valued at more than $1,018,000,000.

A task force comprised of representatives from the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group (now known as the Silicon Valley Leadership Group), the Santa Clara County Collaborative on Housing and Homelessness, the County Board of Supervisors, and the Community Foundation Silicon Valley created the Trust in 1999 as an expression of our community’s concern over the rising cost of housing. Significant local funding support quickly followed, and the Trust began investing funds and creating affordable housing opportunities in August 2001.

From the time the Trust began distributing funds in 2001, more than 1,500 families have bought their first home using the Trust’s First-time Homebuyer Assistance Program, which offers an interest-free loan of $6,500 to qualifying borrowers; valuable gap financing from the Trust has enabled the creation of more than 800 units of shelter and special needs housing, and more than 1,200 affordable family apartments throughout Santa Clara County. In addition, Housing Trust grants to direct-service providers have also helped more than 2,000 people avoid homelessness. “One billion dollars-worth of affordable homes is a remarkable achievement, and we see it as a landmark on a path of continuing progress,” said Housing Trust Executive Director Taylor Dial. “We constantly evaluate our products for efficiency and effectiveness in achieving our mission to increase housing affordability, and we must continue to innovatively respond to the Valley’s housing needs.”

The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County treats the challenge of affordable housing as a regional issue, and has attracted funding from every one of Santa Clara County’s fifteen towns and cities, as well as from the County of Santa Clara; employers, employer foundations and citizens from Palo Alto to Gilroy have also partnered with the Trust to create an effective and innovative response to the high cost of housing in Silicon Valley. In turn, the Trust has invested more than $22.7 million in communities throughout the county, helping workers live closer to jobs, schools and family activities. “The Silicon Valley Leadership Group is proud to be a Co-Founder of the Housing Trust,” said SVLG CEO and Housing Trust Board Member Carl Guardino. “We knew from the beginning of this effort that we would not only help build housing opportunities, but that we would be building better communities in the process. SVLG Members have contributed nearly $15 million to the Housing Trust, proving once again that in Silicon Valley, employers put their wallets where their words are to help solve seemingly intractable community problems.”

The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County is a non-profit public benefit corporation with offices in San Jose, CA.