January 30, 2023
$184,000 Grant Awarded to SDHC Affiliate to Support Homeownership Programs for People of Color
The National Fair Housing Alliance’s grant will help expand programs that prepare households for homeownership and/or to buy a home
SAN DIEGO, CA — A new grant awarded to a San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) nonprofit affiliate will provide additional financial support for expanded efforts to help more people of color become homeowners in the City of San Diego.
“Housing affordability has become a prominent issue for many families of color. This grant funding truly supports our mission to help families across our region, and I’m proud to advocate for more opportunities that bring homeownership within closer reach,” said City Council President Pro Tem Monica Montgomery Steppe, Co-Chair of the City-County Reinvestment Task Force (RTF), which leads the implementation of the San Diego Homeownership Equity Collaborative’s strategies to increase homeownership opportunities for people of color in the San Diego region.
The $184,000 grant from the National Fair Housing Alliance will provide funds for programs that help households of color prepare for homeownership and/or purchase a home. These activities include debt reduction, credit counseling, peer mentors, homeownership navigators and community educators, as well as down payment or closing cost assistance grants and credit-building loans.
“I’m extremely excited to hear about the grant award from the National Fair Housing Alliance. With this grant of $184,000, we can help over 90 families from underserved communities achieve the American dream of homeownership,” said City Councilmember Vivian Moreno, Chair of the City Council’s Land Use and Housing Committee and a longtime advocate of homeownership programs.
SDHC administers the first-time homebuyer and affordable for-sale housing programs for the City of San Diego and is a member of the San Diego Homeownership Equity Collaborative’s Executive Committee. Information about the San Diego Homeownership Equity Project is available on SDHC’s website at www.sdhc.org/homebuyerequity.
“This important grant will help us provide more support to people of color when they begin the process of buying a home and encounter the many challenges that often hinder their home buying dream. This grant will allow us to truly help more people and families achieve the goal of homeownership,” SDHC Chair of the Board Eugene “Mitch” Mitchell said. “On behalf of the entire Board of Commissioners, I would like to the thank the National Fair Housing Alliance for their investment in our community and Council President Pro Tem Montgomery Steppe and Councilmember Moreno for their continued leadership in support of efforts and investments like these.”
Homeownership Gap
Homeownership rates for many households of color are significantly lower than other racial groups. For example, an SDHC-commissioned Urban Institute study of City of San Diego households confirmed homeownership rates of 29.1% among Black households and 35.2% among Latino households, compared with 54.8% among White households.
According to the Urban Institute study, Latino households represented 19.1% of all households in San Diego, but only 13.6% of all homeowner households. Black households accounted for 6.1% of all San Diego households, but only 3.6% of all homeowner households in the City of San Diego.
Gaps in homeownership rates contribute to differences in wealth among households. According to a Federal Reserve bulletin based on the Survey of Consumer Finances, the median net worth for a white family, which is $188,200, was approximately five times higher than for a Hispanic family, which is $36,100, and nearly eight times higher than for a Black family, which is $24,100. According to the Urban Institute, home equity represents approximately 60% of total net worth for Black homeowners, compared with 43% for white homeowners. Homeownership provides households an asset that grows in value, can help pay educational expenses, may be used to help family members buy their own homes, or provides an inheritance for the next generation.
Additional Resources
The grant from the National Fair Housing Alliance aligns with the San Diego Homeownership Equity Collaborative’s efforts to increase homeownership opportunities for people of color.
The Wells Fargo Foundation awarded a $7.5 million Wealth Opportunity Restored Through Homeownership (WORTH) grant to SDHC, announced in September 2022, to expand efforts to help more people of color in the San Diego region become homeowners. These efforts aim to help create 5,000 new homeowners of color in San Diego County by the end of 2025. Nationally, WORTH aims to help create 40,000 new homeowners of color by the end of 2025.
The San Diego Homeownership Equity Collaborative consists of 16 organizations. The Executive Committee comprises: the RTF, SDHC, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Logan Heights Community Development Corporation, MAAC, National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), San Diego Housing Federation and Urban League of San Diego County. Additional organizations in the collaborative are: Casa Familiar, Chicano Federation, Civic Communities, Credit.org, Habitat for Humanity, International Rescue Committee (IRC) San Diego and the San Diego Family Asset-Building Coalition.
First-Time Homebuyer Assistance
Nearly 6,000 households have become homeowners through SDHC’s first-time homebuyer and affordable for-sale housing programs in the City of San Diego since 1988.
Through SDHC’s homebuyer programs in the City of San Diego, 126 households became homeowners from June 30, 2020, through June 30, 2022. Of those, 74% were Latino; 14% were White; 9% were Asian; 2% were Black; and 1% were multiracial.
SDHC Building Opportunities Inc.
The National Fair Housing Alliance grant was awarded to SDHC Building Opportunities Inc., an SDHC nonprofit affiliate that supports programs that provide opportunities to improve the quality of life for low- and moderate-income families in the City or County of San Diego.
Connect with SDHC on social media:
###
Media Contact:
Scott Marshall, Vice President of Communications, San Diego Housing Commission
619-578-7138. scottm@sdhc.org
