May is Affordable Housing Month, and we’ve already got a lot to be excited about here in Sacramento!
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SHA knows solving our region’s unprecedented affordable housing and homelessness crisis requires local governments to rise to the challenge and both comply with existing laws and facilitate new affordable and permanent supportive housing. Sadly, the city of Elk Grove recently denied the development of a critically needed permanent supportive housing community that would have provided 66 safe, stable and affordable units to formerly homeless individuals.
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Elk Grove’s decision wasn’t just immoral; it was also illegal. City officials violated state law prohibiting discriminatory land use practices and their duty to affirmatively further fair housing. That’s why SHA filed a complaint to the State Department of Housing and Community Development, which got the ball rolling toward today’s historic announcement.
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“Every person who wants to prevent and reduce homelessness in California should be fighting for more affordable housing,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “We are thankful for advocacy groups like the Sacramento Housing Alliance that both support cities and counties in doing the right things, and raise flags when they aren’t, like in the case of Elk Grove. Together we can build a California where every person has the opportunity for a place to call home.”
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“We are so excited about the potential outcome of getting 66 desperately needed permanent supportive homes online for formerly homeless individuals,” said SHA Board President Cathy Creswell. “The crisis is too desperate and literally people are dying on our streets. We are so grateful to HCD and the attorney general for their leadership and aggressive efforts to hold local governments accountable.”
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