Our approach to advocacy is based on decades of on-the-ground experience and policy expertise.
In addition to lifting our hammers, we must also lift our voices in support of adequate shelter.
Building is part of the solution, but less visible aspects of housing like laws, regulations, systems, and rules about land and development are critical components in eliminating barriers to safe, healthy, affordable housing. From our deep understanding of housing and its central role in providing opportunities for families, we work to reform policies and laws in a collaborative, nonpartisan way.
Rent and homeownership costs are skyrocketing while wages are not keeping pace. Far too often, families struggle to make ends meet.
The stability that home should bring remains out of reach for too many families. They are forced to make impossible choices between a roof over their heads or health, education, and even food.
When the cost of home is your family’s future, the cost is too high. When the cost of home is any family’s future, that’s something none of us can afford.
Housing that is affordable
costs no more than 30% of a family’s household income.
17 million
U.S. households are
severely cost-burdened.
(paying more than 50% of income for housing)
In 2016, housing prices rose
twice as fast
as inflation in the U.S.
1 in 7
families pay half or more of their income on housing.
In June 2019, San Diego Habitat joined Habitat affiliates across the country in a five-year nationwide advocacy campaign, Cost of Home.
We commit to mobilizing our partners, volunteers, and community members across the U.S to find solutions and create policies that will allow 10 million individuals to meet their most basic needs.
CAMPAIGN GOAL
10 million people
with increased home affordability, including substantial increases in low-income homeownership opportunities, through policy and system changes at the local, state, and national levels.
POLICY SOLUTIONS
expand resources for home production
increase inclusive access to credit
enable equitable access to land
develop communities of opportunity
Help us make the #CostOfHome something we all can afford.
Resources
Campaign News
Urge Governor Newsom to Restore Funding to CalHome
The Critical Need for CalHome
April is National Fair Housing Month
The Need for Racial Equity in Housing
Learn More
To aid you in your advocacy efforts, here are some quick facts about the housing affordability crisis, and why the Cost of Home campaign is so important.
Cost of Home Policy Platform – 2020
National Housing Facts
California Housing Facts
Affordability Over Time
Unaffordable Housing Impacts
Racial Disparities and Housing Policy
Habitat for Humanity International
2020 State of the Nation’s Housing Report
The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies
California’s Future: Housing
Public Policy Institute of California | January 2020
Habitat for Humanity California
San Diego County’s Housing Emergency Update
California Housing Partnership | May 2019