By Rebecca Kaplan

California is facing a housing crisis with housing costs exceeding growth in wages, and inadequate housing supply, particularly for low-income households. In California, approximately 2.5 million low-income households lack adequate affordable housing.

The high cost of housing is a significant contributing factor to California’s homelessness crisis. This causes many challenges, as homelessness has long-term and serious consequences to people’s health and safety. As of the last point-in-time count, California has approximately 161,500 individuals experiencing homelessness, which represents 20% of the total homeless population in the country. This statistic is even more stark given that California’s overall population only represents 12% of the country’s total population.

In response to the mounting challenges around homelessness, California launched its Homekey program, allocating funding to local public agencies and community organizations to buy available buildings, which can be used to immediately house people (including dorms and hotels) and use available properties to develop a broad range of housing types for permanent and interim affordable housing. Yet while there are many excellent projects pending which could house thousands of people – the State so far has left many unfunded. In order to respond to the magnitude of the crisis we face – I introduced a resolution that was heard by the Oakland City Council on April 19. It urges the state to fund all pending Homekey applications.

The rising homeless crisis warrants a substantial and urgent response, commensurate with the magnitude of the crisis.  Given that the state is anticipating a $45.7 billion surplus for the 2022–23 fiscal year, and $20.6 billion will be available for discretionary use, my resolution strongly urges the State of California to fund all pending Homekey Applications in order to promptly house people. With multiple pending Homekey applications awaiting awards statewide, a substantial number of individuals could be helped off the streets and into better facilities for a cost that would be a tiny fraction of the State surplus.

The state of California and the City of Oakland, and others, have declared that we are facing a homeless crisis, and lack adequate affordable housing. Oakland has sought to remedy this crisis by dedicating public lands and other resources to providing affordable housing. In that same vein, the City Council in December 2021 and January 2022 adopted resolutions that authorized the City Administrator to jointly apply for, accept, and enter into standard agreements as a local agency partner for funds from the State’s Homekey Program with several projects.

The State Homekey Program is currently in the process of awarding approximately $1.45 billion in grant funding to local public entities to sustain and rapidly expand housing for persons experiencing homelessness or who are at-risk of homelessness. State leaders should immediately increase the amount available now, to fully cover all pending projects (estimated to be a few hundred million more – a tiny fraction of the surplus).

Although the State of California has issued multiple Homekey awards to other jurisdictions, there are many excellent projects, both in Oakland and elsewhere, which have not yet been approved for funding. California needs to fully fund all Homekey projects in Oakland and throughout the state so we can bolster the fight to take people off the streets and give them the security of a home with a key.

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