VENTURA COUNTY — Housing Trust Fund Ventura County (Housing Trust Fund VC) announced that the nonprofit has been awarded a $1.5M grant from the County of Ventura’s general fund for the development of affordable housing throughout the community and another $891,059 from the U.S. Treasury Department’s CDFI Fund Equitable Recovery Program. This combined $2,391,059 has the ability to be matched dollar for dollar by the State of California’s Proposition 1 Local Housing Trust Fund, bringing over $4 million to Ventura County in support of developing more affordable apartments and homes.
The process to receive funds from the national Equitable Recovery Program was highly competitive. Housing Trust Fund VC was the only Housing Trust Fund in the state to receive an award. In total, 696 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) from across the country requested a total of $7.69 billion, which is nearly 4.4 times the amount of funding that was available through this program. “This is a huge accomplishment that demonstrates the serious role we take in managing and expanding our financial resources for the production of safe, equitable, affordable housing,” said Tracy McAulay, Housing Trust Fund VC Board Chair.
Housing Trust Fund VC will leverage these County and Federal funds with matching funds from the State of California Prop 1 Local Housing Trust Fund, and other private and charitable sources, to bring even more funding to the county for the development of new affordable homes. In a letter of support presented to the county from the newly formed Ventura County Housing Coalition (VCHC), it was noted that year after year, the annual progress reports (APR) published by the state’s Housing and Community Development (HCD) department show how the rate of production for low-income units falls short of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) targets. Unfortunately, this means the new units being produced in the county are by and large set at rents that are unaffordable to low-income households.
“Since 2013, we’ve helped to fund the creation of 1,120 affordable apartments and homes in Ventura County. Sadly, however our county is #1 in the state and #2 in the nation experiencing the worst housing shortage. We’re more than 31,000 units short of the need.” Braunschweiger refers to a study, “Housing Underproduction in the U.S. 2022” released by Up for Growth, a nonprofit research group. “We are honored that the County and Federal government see the need in our community and trust Housing Trust Fund VC with helping to solve the problem. These funds will go a long way, especially with the ability to double them through Prop 1, towards meeting the housing affordability shortage.”
To learn more and get involved in helping to solve the housing crisis in Ventura County, Housing Trust Fund VC is hosting Compassion Campaign 2023 – “HOME MADE: Fund It + Build It + Live It” on Thursday, May 11th at the Museum of Ventura County. Three museum-quality exhibits will invite guests to stroll through and learn what it takes to fund, build, and live in safe, equitable, and affordable homes in Ventura County. For tickets, please visit www.housingtrustfundvc.org/2023cc-tickets.