Housing Grants to Provide Shelter for Poor, Homeless

California housing officials announced Wednesday that more than $150 million in grants and loans will be distributed to organizations to develop 5,500 new units of affordable housing and shelter beds for the poor and homeless.

The grants, awarded through the Department of Housing and Community Development, are the first installment of Proposition 46, a $2.1-billion housing and emergency shelter bond act approved by voters last year and viewed by housing advocates as a key tool in combating the state’s housing shortage.

“The numbers are devastating in the state in terms of affordability,” said Maria Contreras-Sweet, the state’s secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing.

The funding was particularly welcomed in Southern California, where an expensive housing market makes affordable housing a dire necessity. Housing advocates said low-income families frequently spend more than 50% of their monthly income on housing.

Overall, Contreras-Sweet said, the state should be generating about 200,000 new units each year to keep up with the growing demand for housing at all income levels.

About $100 million of the money will be used to produce 2,100 units of affordable housing for lower income workers and their families, the disabled and elderly throughout the state.

Another $25 million is expected to produce or preserve 3,560 shelter spaces for homeless people.

The rest will be awarded to cities that have already increased their number of residential building permits.

Cathedral City, Chino and Orange, among others, were each awarded several hundred thousand dollars for parks and capital projects. Los Angeles received $3.4 million for more affordable housing. This branch of the funding is a way to reward cities that are increasing their housing stock.

“The state does not build housing,” said Contreras-Sweet. “We can only offer incentives.”

Ruth Schwartz, executive director of Shelter Partnership, a nonprofit organization that advises governments and agencies how to build affordable housing in Los Angeles County, applauded the quick release of the funds, part of Gov. Gray Davis’ “Build California” initiative, which speeds the delivery of construction funds to fuel the economy.

“We are all very excited about the bond issue coming to fruition,” she said.

For about the next five years, the bond measure will release funds that are expected to create or preserve 131,000 to 134,000 units of housing statewide.

The bond issue includes money for a wide variety of housing needs and will help about 60,000 Californians purchase homes, create about 30,000 new domestic violence and homeless shelter beds, and assist 10,000 farm worker families.

The San Francisco Bay Area received the largest share of the first disbursement, with $55.2 million.

The Los Angeles region followed with $54.3 million.