Governor Gavin Newsom today announced more grant awards from the third round of Homekey, the Administration’s initiative to help communities to address the challenge of homelessness by rapidly expanding the availability of housing for at-risk individuals and families.

The six projects newly funded, totaling nearly $95.6 million, will create 396 affordable homes. So far in Round 3 of Homekey, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has made awards to fund 2,235 homes. Today’s awards bring the total of homes funded across three rounds of Homekey to 15,009. These homes are expected to serve 163,260 Californians over the life of the projects.

“Homekey is a national model for rapidly creating affordable housing for Californians in need," said Governor Newsom. "In a few short years, this initiative has created more than 15,000 homes, to help over 163,000 people. Homekey demonstrates what is possible when people think outside the box and refuse to accept the status quo.”

Originally launched months into the COVID-19 pandemic as an extension of Project Roomkey – to curb the spread of disease among Californians in congregate shelters – Homekey funds additional building types and supports a broader population of people experiencing or at risk for homelessness. This includes young people transitioning to adulthood from foster care or an unsafe environment.

“Over a three-year period, Homekey has funded projects that will provide housing security to more than 163,000 Californians over the decades to come,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “The current set of awards includes housing dedicated to veterans, and the conversion of a shuttered hospital to shelter those experiencing homelessness. This program has allowed jurisdictions to get creative with adaptive reuse of existing spaces, and with providing a full array of services that help make homelessness rare, one time, and non-recurrent.”

Homekey Round 3 grant funding – administered by HCD – is available to local public entities including cities, counties, tribes, and housing authorities to develop a broad range of housing types including hotels, motels, hostels, single-family homes, multifamily apartments, adult residential facilities, and modular housing, and to convert commercial properties and other existing buildings to permanent or interim housing.

HCD continues reviewing applications, and grants will be announced on a rolling basis until all funds are exhausted.

• The County of Marin, in partnership with Homeward Bound of Marin, will receive $14,400,000 for the Novato Veterans and Workforce Housing project, a new construction project that will create 50 permanent housing units serving individuals who are homeless or chronically homeless.
• The City of Oakland, in partnership with California Supportive Housing and CSH Enterprise Housing LP, will receive $20,368,264 for the CSH Enterprise Housing project, an acquisition and rehabilitation project that will convert an existing motel to create 104 permanent housing units serving individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness, as well as homeless youth.
• The City of San Bernardino, in partnership with Lutheran Social Services of Southern California and Dignity Moves, will receive $34,944,702 for the Community Wellness Campus project, a new construction project that will create 140 modular housing units to serve people who are chronically homeless.
• The City of San Luis Obispo, in partnership with People’s Self-Help Housing Corporation, will receive $19,358,270 for the Calle Joaquin Homekey project, an acquisition and rehabilitation project that will convert an existing motel into 76 units serving individuals who are homeless, chronically homeless, or at risk of homelessness, as well as homeless youth.
• The County of Santa Cruz, in partnership with CFSC, Inc., will receive $3,577,362 for the Freedom House Interim Housing project. The project will convert an existing single-family residence to create 11 studio interim housing units, all with kitchenettes and bathrooms, to serve the youth who are experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness.

Please visit the HCD Homekey page for more information.