Community
Bay Area Mayors, Advocates Urge Congressional Delegation to Make Historic Investments in Housing
Leaders Rally Around Long-term Solutions to Region’s Affordability Crisis

A coalition of elected leaders, private, and philanthropic partners sent a letter (http://ow.ly/DBuJ50FNGsX) to the region’s federal legislators on August 10 calling on them to include historic investments in affordable housing in the upcoming budget reconciliation legislation before Congress.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf were joined by many of the region’s leading housing providers, advocates, and experts to urge California members of Congress to:
- Ensure anyone eligible for a housing voucher can get one by making vouchers a federal entitlement.
- Enact House Financial Services Chairman Maxine Waters’ Housing is Infrastructure Act of 2021, which would provide over $600 billion in affordable, equitable housing infrastructure; and focus resources in the region using flexible models such as the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority.
- Strengthen the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program by increasing the number of credits, which would create over 330,000 new housing units in California.
This coalition stemmed from a regional effort to build on local economic recovery task forces and to align behind key priorities to rebuild and regrow a Bay Area where everyone can thrive. It recognizes that affordable housing is a critical priority to ensure an equitable recovery. The coalition noted:
“In the Bay Area and around California, our communities face an acute shortage of affordable housing, worsened by a pandemic that has further revealed the vast inequities, especially facing Black, Brown, Asian Pacific Islander, and Indigenous communities…”
“…Advancing these priorities will spur desperately needed affordable housing production and ensure all residents have access to a safe, affordable place to call home.”
A copy of the letter can be found at http://ow.ly/DBuJ50FNGsX, and the full text is included below:
The Honorable Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Senate,
The Honorable Alex Padilla, U.S. Senate,
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, U.S. House of Representatives,
The Honorable Mark DeSaulnier, U.S. House of Representatives ,
The Honorable Anna Eshoo, U.S. House of Representatives,
The Honorable John Garamendi, U.S. House of Representatives,
The Honorable Jared Huffman, U.S. House of Representatives,
The Honorable Ro Khanna, U.S. House of Representatives,
The Honorable Barbara Lee, U.S. House of Representatives,
The Honorable Zoe Lofgren, U.S. House of Representatives,
The Honorable Jerry McNerney, U.S. House of Representatives,
The Honorable Jackie Speier, U.S. House of Representatives,
The Honorable Eric Swalwell, U.S. House of Representatives,
The Honorable Mike Thompson, U.S. House of Representatives
Re: Housing Priorities for the Bay Area Region
Dear Bay Area Congressional Delegation Members:
Thank you for your historic, ongoing leadership in providing critical resources to the nation – and the Bay Area – to recover from the health, economic, and housing consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have come together across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to work in collaboration toward a more equitable housing recovery in our region, home to over 7.7 million people, and look to your leadership in helping us secure key housing investments, which only the federal government can meet.
Cities and counties across the region convened local economic recovery task forces early in the pandemic, identifying local priorities and actions to provide immediate relief and advance local recovery strategies. To build on the work of the regional economic recovery task forces, a coalition of public, private, and philanthropic partners came together to identify our region’s most pressing state and federal priorities to ensure an equitable recovery. Common across the Bay Area was the recognition of affordable housing as a critical priority to ensure an equitable recovery.
In the Bay Area and around California, our communities face an acute shortage of affordable housing, worsened by a pandemic that has further revealed the vast inequities, especially facing Black, Brown, Asian Pacific Islander, and Indigenous communities. While there are numerous causes, millions of California families are housing insecure:
- Tens of thousands are homeless. In 2019, 35,028 individuals were experiencing homelessness in Bay Area counties.
- Overall, 137,500 households, including 86,600 low-income Bay Area households, are at risk of eviction and collectively owe $256 million in rent debt. If 10% of currently at-risk households became homeless, that would lead to a 44% increase in homelessness.
- The vast majority of renters who are behind on their rent have experienced job and income losses during the pandemic: 78% have lost employment income, while 81% earn less than $75,000.
- As of 2017, 71% of necessary permits were issued for above moderate-income units, compared with only 9% to 13% for either very low, low, or moderate-income units in the current 2015 to 2023 housing cycle.
- Due to generations of disinvestment, Black, Latinx, Native American, Mixed/other renters are more likely to be rent-burdened, particularly among female-headed renter households. Eighty-eight percent of renters who are behind on rent are people of color. Moreover, Black residents represent 29% of people experiencing homelessness in the region but only 6% of Bay Area residents.
As a coalition of leading housing providers, advocates, and experts working in the region, we are requesting that you fight on behalf of the following federal priorities that will directly improve millions of lives in the Bay Area:
- Transform the Housing Choice Voucher program into a federal entitlement so that every household that qualifies for assistance can receive it. We urge you to support House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters’ visionary effort to advance this goal through the inclusion of the Ending Homelessness Act of 2021 in reconciliation legislation this year. In addition to making vouchers an entitlement, the comprehensive Ending Homelessness Act of 2021 provides protections against discrimination based on source of income and funding for supportive services, creation of permanent affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness, and technical assistance for relevant state and local authorities. Together, these actions could end widespread homelessness as we know it.
- Invest in affordable housing in reconciliation legislation this year by including Chairwoman Waters’ Housing is Infrastructure Act of 2021, which would provide over $600 billion in housing infrastructure; and include in this flexible funding for innovative regional approaches for more equitable housing solutions. This transformational legislation would address the acute shortage of affordable housing and advance equity in the Bay Area and other parts of the country by investing in the creation and preservation of affordable and accessible housing, public housing, and community development, with set-asides for high and persistent poverty communities and measures that improve equitable planning and development processes to affirmatively advance fair housing. In addition, fully funding cross-jurisdictional solutions, such as the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA), within these programs will allow regions and metro areas across the country to elevate a commitment to racial equity, foster innovation to integrate housing solutions with regional transportation and climate strategies, and make each dollar invested in housing goes further than other piecemeal approaches would otherwise accomplish.
- Strengthen the Low Income Housing Tax Credit – a crucial tool in the production of affordable housing – by enacting the bipartisan, bicameral Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA). Since its inception in 1986, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) has built or rehabilitated more than 3.5 million affordable housing units, making it the most successful federal policy to produce affordable rental housing. We thank you for your support of this meaningful tax credit. Today, AHCIA is needed to expand its impact in order to meet the scope of the current affordable housing crisis. AHCIA would help build more than two million new affordable housing units across the country, including 330,000 in California alone, in the next decade by increasing the amount of credits allocated to each state by 50 percent, increasing the number of affordable housing projects that can be built using private activity bonds, and making improvements to the LIHTC to better serve victims of domestic violence, formerly homeless students, Native American communities, veterans, and rural Americans.
Advancing these priorities will spur desperately needed affordable housing production and ensure all residents have access to a safe, affordable place to call home. Thank you for contacting Christa Brown with the San Francisco Foundation so we can further discuss these priorities in the near future.
Sincerely,
London Breed Mayor, City of San Francisco |
Sam Liccardo Mayor, City of San Jose |
Libby Schaaf Mayor, City of Oakland |
Tomiquia Moss Founder & Chief Executive, All Home |
Margaret Peterson CEO, Catholic Charities East Bay |
Monique Berlanga Interim Executive Director, Centro Legal de La Raza |
Malcolm Yeung Executive Director, Chinatown Community Development Center |
Don Gilmore Executive Director, Community Housing Development Corporation |
James W. Head President & CEO, East Bay Community Foundation |
Michael McAfee President and CEO, PolicyLink |
Priscilla Almodovar President and CEO, Enterprise Community Partners |
Cindy Wu Executive Director, LISC Bay Area |
Leslye Corsiglia Executive Director, Silicon Valley @ Home |
Guillermo Mayer President & CEO, Public Advocates |
Fred Blackwell CEO, San Francisco Foundation |
Nicole Taylor President and CEO, Silicon Valley Community Foundation |
Amie Fishman Executive Director, Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California |
Gloria Bruce Executive Director, East Bay Housing Organization |
Ellen Wu Executive Director, Urban Habitat |
Alicia John-Baptiste President and CEO, SPUR |
Omar Carrera CEO, Canal Alliance |
Debra Gore-Mann President and CEO, The Greenlining Institute |
Derecka Mehrens Executive Director, Working Partnerships USA |
Activism
Undocumented Workers Are Struggling to Feed Themselves. Slashed Budgets and New Immigration Policies Bring Fresh Challenges
Founded more than 20 years ago, Street Level Health Project started with a handful of nurses and volunteers visiting day laborer sites in East Oakland to provide medical assistance and other resources to newly arrived immigrants. They quickly spotted symptoms common among day laborers: nausea, fatigue, and headaches. Sitting in the sun for hours waiting for work is typical. Once on a job, some men shared incidents of nearly passing out while working. Volunteer nurses also noticed signs of hunger among the men, with some going days without eating a proper meal.

By Magaly Muñoz
Up and down the streets of the Fruitvale neighborhood in Oakland, immigrant workers head to empty parking lots and street corners waiting for a job. Some are as young as 14 and as old as 60.
Diego, a man in his late thirties, is a construction worker who arrived in the United States nine months ago. He, like many of the men standing beside him at the day laborer site, came to the U.S. in the hopes of providing a new life for his family. Now, Diego and other immigrants are worried as threats of deportation increase from the Trump administration.
Also worried are organizations such as Street Level Health Project, an Oakland-based nonprofit dedicated to providing access to health care and basic services to these laborers.
Street Level Health Project’s funding primarily comes from federal and local grants, These are in jeopardy because of city budget constraints and proposed cuts to federal social service dollars.
Already, the nonprofit’s local funding has been cut. The City of Oakland decreased one of the organization’s grants by $35,000 in one of its latest rounds of budget cuts, with city officials citing a looming budget deficit.
“Our primary day laborer program funding right now is secured, but we do have concerns in this next budget cycle if it will continue to be secured, given [the budget shortfall], and the recent cut to 13 community grants across the city,” said Executive Director Gabriela Galicia.
Founded more than 20 years ago, Street Level Health Project started with a handful of nurses and volunteers visiting day laborer sites in East Oakland to provide medical assistance and other resources to newly arrived immigrants. They quickly spotted symptoms common among day laborers: nausea, fatigue, and headaches. Sitting in the sun for hours waiting for work is typical. Once on a job, some men shared incidents of nearly passing out while working. Volunteer nurses also noticed signs of hunger among the men, with some going days without eating a proper meal.
“We’re the safety net to the safety net,” said Galicia. As Oakland’s sole organization devoted to helping undocumented workers, Street Level is often tasked with “picking up the leftovers” for groups that provide resources to the larger immigrant or underserved communities, she added. Now, that mission is under threat.

Level Health Project is a nonprofit organization in East Oakland that provides health and employment resources for immigrant day laborers and their families. The staff upped their efforts to provide information about immigration rights in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidency. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.
At day laborer sites in East Oakland, several workers said that they often skip buying groceries or meals for themselves in order to save money for rent or other necessities.
Diego, who like others interviewed for this story asked to not share his full name because of his undocumented status, said he’s lucky if he makes $300 a week. He said that is enough to pay for the small room he and his son rent in the Fruitvale – but not enough to feed them both. Diego said that he will sometimes go days without food.
The family Diego rents from is more fortunate, he said, because they’re able to afford meat and rice. At times, Diego said, it’s hard to ignore the savory smell that finds its way to his bedroom. Diego tells his son to look away from his landlord’s table to avoid feeling envious about what they cannot buy themselves.
“It’s hard because I know there’s food at the store, but there’s never enough [money] to buy it,” Diego said. “We barely have enough to pay our rent every month.”
On top of paying for the basics here in the U.S., day laborers also face pressure to support relatives in their home countries.
Pedro, interviewed on his BART ride home after an unsuccessful day of trying to find work in East Oakland, said his family in Guatemala regularly goes days without eating because he can’t make enough money in the Bay Area to send home to them.
“A lot of [day laborers] have their families back in [Latin America], making it harder to keep up with our needs here,” Pedro said. Some days he said the only thing he eats is the fruit that some local organizations hand out to workers like him.

Street Level Health Project is providing weekly grocery bags to immigrant day laborers and their families to address the growing need for food in the community. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.
Bracing for bigger challenges
Before the pandemic, Street Level Health Project had a hot meal lunch program at their central office in the Fruitvale, where the organization provided meals twice a week for over 50 people. The organization also had a hot meal breakfast program where they prepared 50 to 90 meals, three times a week.
Understanding the food insecurity that many day laborers face, the project launched a food distribution program in 2011, distributing nearly 70 bags of groceries weekly. Thanks to additional funding, they were able to increase that to 150 food bags a week during the pandemic.
In recent years, Street Level Health Project reduced its weekly grocery distribution back to 70 bags and cut its hot meal program completely. Galicia, the director, said that’s because of the end of COVID-19 funding and staffing reductions.
Street Level Health Project also receives regular donations from the Alameda County Food Bank, but Galicia said it has not been enough to restore the food distribution program to what it was during the pandemic.
Currently, Street Level has a $100,000 grant from the city of Oakland to provide wrap-around services for day laborers, such as getting jobs for the workers, providing assistance with CalFresh and MediCal applications, and referring people to legal aid or immigration assistance. Galicia said that funding is barely enough to do the amount of work that the city expects.
Meanwhile, the $35,000 cut in funding has impacted the organization’s workers’ rights outreach and education services, she said.
The Oakland Post tried reaching out to city and county officials several times for comment but did not get a response.
Galicia fears city leaders will make even harsher cuts during the upcoming budget cycle this spring to balance a $130 million shortfall. Last year, Oakland cut funding for public safety, arts and culture programs, and 13 other nonprofits that serve the city’s most vulnerable populations.
Yet the budget concerns don’t stop with local government.

In the wake of Trump 2.0, organizations across the country are handing out “red cards” with the rights that immigrants should be aware of when encountering immigration officers. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.
Since President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, immigrant communities and the organizations that serve them have been in crisis mode.
Trump, who ran on a promise to deport millions of immigrants, has signed executive orders to stop birthright citizenship, shipped migrants to Guantanamo Bay, and attempted to freeze federal funding to social programs. Undocumented residents are increasingly anxious that their families might get separated.
Galicia said this is the time for local and state governments to invest in their organizations’ staff and direct resources, not take them away, from the people on the frontlines.
“I think that it’s just as important that funders are able to give to our teams, not just for the community but because the people doing the work have to be well, and we need ample resources to be able to do this work to support our community,” Galicia said.
For Pedro, the day laborer in Oakland, the combination of less support from nonprofits like Street Level Health Project, along with fear raised by the Trump administration’s deportation threats, has left him fearful. He is not alone, he said. He has noticed fewer day laborers showing up to their usual spots. Pedro said he himself fears encountering an immigration officer on his way to work.
“We don’t want to leave our homes, but at the same time, if we don’t go outside, we don’t work,” he said. “If we don’t work, we can’t afford to live.”
Oakland Post reporter Magaly Muñoz produced this story as part of a series as a 2024 USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism Data Fellow and Engagement Grantee.
#NNPA BlackPress
Target Takes a Hit: $12.4 Billion Wiped Out as Boycotts Grow
Target Corporation’s stock plummeted by approximately $27.27 per share by the end of February, erasing about $12.4 billion in market value. The drop came on February 28, the designated economic blackout day, and coincided with mounting backlash over the retailer’s decision to abandon its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments. The National Newspaper Publishers Association […]

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) has taken action through its Public Education and Selective Buying Campaign. NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. said, “Black consumers helped build Target into a retail giant, and now they are making their voices heard. If corporations believe they can roll back diversity commitments without consequence, they are mistaken.”
Reverend Jamal Bryant, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Georgia, has led calls for a “40-Day Target Fast,” urging Black consumers to withhold their spending at the retailer. “Black people spend $12 million a day at Target,” Bryant said. “If we withhold our dollars, we can make a statement that cannot be ignored.”
The NAACP also issued a Black Consumer Advisory in response to Target’s DEI rollback, warning Black consumers about corporate retreat from diversity initiatives. The advisory urges them to support businesses that remain committed to investing in Black communities.
Target is also facing legal battles. Shareholders have filed lawsuits challenging the company’s DEI policies, arguing that the commitments hurt financial performance. Meanwhile, conservative groups have sued over Target’s diversity efforts, claiming they discriminated against white employees and other groups.
“Consumers have the power to demand change, and Target is learning that lesson the hard way,” Chavis said.
#NNPA BlackPress
BREAKING Groundbreaking Singer Angie Stone Dies in Car Accident at 63
By Stacy M. Brown BlackPressUSA Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia The music and entertainment world reacted in shock and sorrow after the tragic death of Angie Stone, the pioneering singer-songwriter and hip-hop trailblazer who was killed in a car accident early Saturday morning in Montgomery, Alabama. She was 63. Stone’s publicist, Deborah R. Champagne, confirmed the […]

By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
The music and entertainment world reacted in shock and sorrow after the tragic death of Angie Stone, the pioneering singer-songwriter and hip-hop trailblazer who was killed in a car accident early Saturday morning in Montgomery, Alabama. She was 63.
Stone’s publicist, Deborah R. Champagne, confirmed the devastating news, stating that her family is heartbroken. “A number of her loved ones had just spoken to her last night,” Champagne told TMZ.
Born Angela Brown, Stone first rose to prominence as a member of The Sequence, hip-hop’s first all-female rap group. Their 1979 hit Funk You Up became one of the earliest rap records to break into the mainstream, later sampled in Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk and Dr. Dre’s Keep Their Heads Ringin’. After her years with The Sequence, Stone launched a solo career in the late 1990s, earning Grammy nominations and releasing celebrated R&B hits like Brotha, No More Rain, and Wish I Didn’t Miss You.
Stone’s career spanned decades, seamlessly blending hip-hop, soul, and R&B. Her debut solo album, Black Diamond, achieved gold status. She earned multiple Grammy nominations, including Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for U-Haul and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Joe for More Than a Woman and with Betty Wright for Baby.
Several of Stone’s peers offered tributes following the devastating news.
Chuck D, the legendary Public Enemy frontman and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, called Stone a foundational figure. “Angie Stone [was] a powerful pioneer whenever I thought of her,” he told Black Press USA. “A foundation of modern soul and hip-hop and women empowerment that she’s still uncredited for. A terrible loss.”
Rocky Bucano, executive director of the Hip Hop Museum, described Stone as a groundbreaking force. “As a member of The Sequence, Angie B helped pave the way for generations of women in hip-hop,” Bucano said in an email to Black Press USA. “Her impact on hip-hop culture is immeasurable, and her presence will be deeply missed. Rest in power, Angie Stone. Your voice and influence will never fade.”
DJ Ralph McDaniels also told Black Press USA that Stone’s artistry mainly was unmatched. “Peaceful journey to our sister Angie Stone,” he said. “Her voice was unique and direct from hip-hop’s female group Sequence to her solo soul songs.”
Dr. Mario Dickens of Mario Dickens Ministries also offered condolences. “We are saddened to hear of the passing of one of this era’s greatest memorable voices,” he said. “We pray for her loved ones and fans,” said Dickens, who extended his company’s memorial printing services to Stone’s family at no cost.
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