Habitat pushes for affordable home building and home ownership in Washington D.C. lobbying blitz

5 Minute Read

Federal support has long been an essential component of affordable homebuilding in the Bay Area, and never has this been more true than today.

That’s why protecting key funding streams and advancing housing policies to make it easier for working families to own their home were the focus of ‘Habitat on the Hill’ — our annual lobbying drive in Washington D.C.
And while pandemic-related restrictions once again prevented us from rallying at the capitol in person, hundreds of Habitat homeowners, volunteers and staff gathered virtually to make their voices heard.
Kicking off the three-day event, the conference heard across-the-aisle speeches from North Carolina Representative David Price and Ohio Senator Rob Portman — each no stranger to Habitat building sites — as they stressed their commitment to addressing the housing needs of their constituents and the country.

Things to remember:

Habitat on the Hill involved speeches stressing commitment to housing needs across the U.S.
The importance of affordable housing and homeownership to the Biden administration was highlighted
Habitat is also pushing for the Community Restoration and Revitalization Fund — originally a component of the Build Back Better plan — to be supported.

Paying tribute to Habitat’s “extraordinary” work Price noted that, during his time in Congress, he had “considered Habitat a partner both in local communities and also nationally — a partnership that reached a new level with my chairmanship of the Transportation and HUD Appropriations Sub-Committee.”

Paying tribute to Habitat’s “extraordinary” work Price noted that, during his time in Congress, he had “considered Habitat a partner both in local communities and also nationally — a partnership that reached a new level with my chairmanship of the Transportation and HUD Appropriations Sub-Committee.”

The nonprofit “does a tremendous job at putting people in touch with the housing they need and letting them become partners in building that housing.”

U.S. Senator, and regular Habitat volunteer, Rob Portman

Focus on Affordability

Attendees were then joined by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman who highlighted the importance of affordable housing and homeownership to the Biden administration and saluted Habitat’s work for families right across America.

“HUD is very proud to partner with Habitat,” she said. “I have nothing but love in my heart for the amazing work that Habitat does all across the country and the world.”

Focusing on affordability is crucial for Todman. She explained that “even before the pandemic, nearly 18 million households in America paid more than half their income just to pay their rent or mortgage — and I don’t have to tell you the impact of that on the family level.”
With the much-discussed Build Back Better program now firmly on the back burner, attention turned to advancing the case for homebuilding and homeownership in more specific, tailored ways.

Habitat is supporting appropriations requests for three important federal housing programs:

SHOP (Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program) which, as the name suggests, funds the development of homes for affordable ownership that heavily feature owner work

HOME which is major conduit of federal support to affordable homebuilding across the U.S., including many of the homes developed by Habitat Greater San Francisco

USDA 502 Loan Program which plays an enormous role in housing low and very low-income families obtain housing in rural America

Yes in My Backyard

Habitat is also pushing for the Community Restoration and Revitalization Fund — originally a component of the Build Back Better plan — to be supported. This aims to provide considerable funding to the construction of affordable homes and maintenance and repair of existing homes for low and moderate income households in some of the nation’s most challenged and distressed neighborhoods.

Attendees also heard from speakers from around the U.S. on effectively overcoming ‘not in my backyard’ campaigning from those implacably opposed to affordable homebuilding. This included San Francisco’s very own Todd David who, as head of the city’s Housing Action Coalition, is at the tip of the spear of the effort to build affordable homes in close collaboration with communities across the city and region.

“As you might imagine we encounter a lot of NIMBYism in our work,” said David, “however we work hard every day to out-organize them and to activate pro-housing neighbors to get more housing built.”

The event culminated in a whistle-stop tour of virtually all legislative offices, where more than 500 advocates made the case for Habitat’s legislative priorities. Here at Habitat Greater San Francisco, we were proud to speak to Habitat’s national priorities as well as driving home the importance of generating support for affordable homeownership right here in our region.

Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Adrianne Todman

A Rallying Cry

Before heading out to their meetings, advocates were boosted by words from U.S. Senators Gary Peters, of Michigan, and Susan Collins, of Maine.

“We have a responsibility to ensure that no American finds themselves without food on the table or a roof over their head,” said Peters. “I want to say thank you to everyone at Habitat for Humanity for bringing so many together to advocate for more equitable housing policies.”

Collins saluted the hard work, dedication and compassion of Habitat volunteers who “rather than be discouraged by the scale of the problem, work toward a solution one community and one family at a time.”

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“We have a responsibility to ensure that no American finds themselves without food on the table or a roof over their head,” said Peters. “I want to say thank you to everyone at Habitat for Humanity for bringing so many together to advocate for more equitable housing policies.”

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