Thank you for supporting the campaign to
#SaveCalHome!
Investing in homeownership provides economic stability and equity for working families in California.
But…access to homeownership is further from reach than ever before. Only 18% of households in our state can afford to buy a home due to elevated prices caused by supply shortages.
CalHome works.
It is the ONLY state program funding the production and preservation
of affordable ownership homes.
CalHome is a cost-effective use of public funds - awarded equitably throughout the state including to rural and tribal communities - that supports new home construction and home rehabilitation (including mobile homes) for low-income working families, veterans, and older adults. A one-time average investment of less than $100,000 per unit is leveraged several times over by nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity through private donations, volunteer labor, and partnerships.
Increasing home production and building more naturally-affordable homes for purchase by California’s working families is the only way to adequately address our state’s housing crisis. CalHome is vital in this effort and without new funding, it will expire - there is no redundancy. Thousands of shovel-ready projects will be halted, increasing costs down the line, and we will miss a critical opportunity to address our housing crisis with a proven solution. It also undermines broader goals - reducing homelessness, closing the racial wealth gap, and creating more climate-resilient communities.
Let’s make sure CalHome and other vital affordable housing programs aren’t eliminated.
Governor Newsom released his May Revise to the 2025-26 California State Budget in May and it continues to be a bleak funding outlook across the entire spectrum of affordable housing. The Governor did not include funding for any programs that deliver homelessness services and prevention programs, affordable rental, or the preservation and increase of affordable homeownership supply.
For months, we have been working in coalition with affordable housing organizations along the full housing continuum to advocate for budget allocations to these programs to help us all make housing more affordable for Californians earning lower incomes. They include the State Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, the Multifamily Housing Program, the Homelessness Housing Assistance and Prevention Program, and the Joe Serna Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program.
As nonprofit developers of affordable homes for ownership, Habitat for Humanity California is especially focused on preventing the elimination of the CalHome Program and are prioritizing our efforts to save it.
Please join us in taking action now to help ensure CalHome gets restored in the state budget by taking one minute to remind Governor Newsom and your State Representatives that you believe more Californians should have access to homeownership and all the social, health, financial, educational, and generational benefits it offers. It really does just take one minute, but it could make THE difference in securing the financial support needed to continue making homeownership a reality for more Californians.
Why homeownership?
Homeownership supports families and strengthens communities across California.
Homeownership creates economic stability.
A fixed, affordable monthly housing cost shields homeowners from unpredictable rent increases. Over time, homeowners build equity, which serves as a valuable financial asset that can be leveraged for education, business ventures, or retirement.
Homeownership promotes racial equity.
Only 55% of Californians own their home - one of the lowest rates in the U.S. The rate is 35% for Black families and 47% for Hispanic families. By investing in affordable ownership production, lower-income Californians, inclusive of Black and Hispanic households that have been denied these opportunities due to decades of discrimination, can access permanently affordable, equity-building homes that serve as the single most effective approach to achieving economic and racial housing equity.
Homeownership improves education and health. Children of homeowners are more likely to graduate from high school and college than children of renter households in the same income level. And better housing quality improves general, respiratory, and mental health.
Homeownership benefits entire communities.
Habitat homeowners set down roots and become involved in their communities. Homeownership increases civic engagement, raises the local tax base, and reduces reliance on long-term public assistance.
“The California Dream - the idea that every person can achieve a better life, regardless of where they start out - is central to who we are as Californians.”
-Governor Gavin Newsom
Your voice matters - be part of the solution.
Sign up for action alerts and be the first to know when your voice can make a real difference. Together, we can protect programs like CalHome and ensure every Californian has the opportunity to own a safe, affordable home.