January 2025

The City of Santa Cruz recently broke ground on a new permanent supportive housing project, Harvey West Studios, that is planned to include 120 homes for people exiting homelessness. It will be the largest development of its kind in Santa Cruz County. 

Owned by the nonprofit Housing Matters, Harvey West Studios will include on-site case management and supportive services. MidPen Housing will develop the five-story, energy-efficient structure with a ground-floor space for residents to find community and receive support.

“We want to help assist toward success the people who fall into homelessness in our community,” Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley said at the groundbreaking event. “We need to be able to help folks, so their lives don’t hit the ground and shatter.” 

Amenities for residents include a community kitchen, laundry facilities, on-site support staff offices, secured bike parking, a recuperative care center, and a health clinic that will be operated by Housing Matters and the County of Santa Cruz Homeless Persons Health Project. 

HCD provided more than $43 million in funding through its No Place Like Home and Multifamily Housing Programs. Permanent supportive housing is a cornerstone of housing stability, and programs like No Place Like Home, Homekey, and Proposition 1’s Homekey+ continue to assist communities in developing the supportive housing California needs.

The City of Sacramento recently celebrated the dedication ceremony for St. Clare at Capitol Park, a new permanent supportive housing community for people exiting homelessness. 

This event was the cumulation of many hours of hard work and a commitment to the mission of affordable housing in the face of supply chain issues and other setbacks. 

Formerly the Capital Park Hotel, St. Clare is a 134-home historic adaptive reuse project. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places, so care was taken to address all construction concerns while keeping the historic value of the space. 

Built originally in 1911 and 1912, the site’s two towers now contain ground-floor retail spaces, community gathering rooms, offices for caseworkers, laundry facilities, and bicycle storage. Each of St. Clare’s apartments has a bathroom and well-appointed kitchenette. On-site supportive services also are available to help residents successfully maintain housing stability. 

St. Clare at Capitol Park was supported by nearly $10 million from HCD’s No Place Like Home (NPLH) program. NPLH, along with HCD’s new Homekey+ program, will help to create avenues of funding for supportive housing communities like this across California. 

“St. Clare at Capitol Park will be a new community where the formerly unhoused will find not just shelter, but the beginnings of a hopeful tomorrow,” said Rich Ciraulo, Regional Director of Real Estate Development for Mercy Housing California, as reported by the Sacramento Mayor’s Office. “To have accomplished this while also restoring and preserving a beautiful historic building in the heart of our downtown is an achievement that can fill every Sacramentan with pride.” 

Watch the video below to learn more and hear directly from a St. Clare at Capitol Park resident.

Johnny is now over a year clean after finding a place of his own at St. Clare at Capitol Park. He now sees himself living a life of paying forward the help he received and becoming a drug and alcohol counselor. 

St. Clare at Capitol Park was funded in part through HCD's No Place Like Home program, receiving $9 million to fund 65 units in this innovative adaptive reuse project of an old hotel building.

A new affordable housing community has opened its doors in Chico. The Foundation provides 59 new supportive homes for low-income working families, seniors, and individuals with special needs This new development comes at a much-needed time for Butte County, an area strongly impacted by natural disasters in recent years.

HCD partnered with Butte County for this project, contributing more than $650,000 from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery Multifamily Housing Program. An additional $3 million in federal funding was channeled through HCD’s HOME and CDBG programs to the City of Chico, which allocated those funds to this project.

The Foundation provides on-site services that support health, well-being, and self-sufficiency, a model that will continue to be replicated statewide as HCD implements the Homekey+ program created through voter approval of Proposition 1 in 2024. In addition, each apartment has energy-efficient appliances and lights, water-efficient fixtures, and solar. Residents can access secured bike storage and repair stations and on-site parking.

The Foundation is adjacent to the Park Avenue bus line and is close to downtown for easy access to schools, restaurants, shops, and the community center.

What you need to know: Governor Newsom today issued an executive order to fast-track temporary housing for those displaced by the firestorms in Southern California.

LOS ANGELES – Governor Gavin Newsom today issued an executive order assisting the immediate housing needs of individuals displaced by the firestorms in Los Angeles.

"As thousands of Los Angeles residents have been faced with sudden displacement, the state is taking decisive action to help provide housing and assistance as quickly as possible. Today, we are expediting the creation of new temporary housing by removing roadblocks and strengthening protections against exploitation,” said Governor Gavin Newsom.

For people displaced by the wildfires in Los Angeles County, today’s executive order will:

• Direct state departments to support local governments as they develop temporary housing plans to help provide necessary shelter for those immediately impacted by the firestorms.
• Streamline construction and occupancy of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on properties destroyed by the fires, including extending CEQA and Coastal Act exemptions from the Governor’s executive order to accelerate rebuilding efforts to ADUs.
• Make it easier to place temporary trailers and other housing on property while destroyed or damaged resident is rebuilt.
• Suspend fees for mobilehome parks under the Mobilehome Park Act, Special Occupancy Parks Act, and Manufactured Housing Act for the next three years.
• Direct the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to make suitable fairgrounds available to assist individuals impacted by the emergency. 
• Extend price gouging prohibitions on hotel, motel, and rental housing in Los Angeles County to March 8, 2025.

 A copy of the executive order can be found here.

“Folks across the region are being preyed upon by greedy businesses and landlords, scam artists, and predatory buyers looking to make a quick buck off their pain,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “My office is here to say this is not only wrong, it is illegal. We are thankful for the support of the Governor’s Office in providing these stronger tools to make sure Californians have the housing they need. Let there be no doubt that short-term rentals are a crucial housing resource, not a get rich quick scheme. We are always here to make sure our neighbors have a roof over their heads.”

Today’s executive order, along with the Governor’s executive order on rebuilding, helps meet the temporary and long-term housing needs of those who have been affected by the firestorms in Los Angeles County.

Last week, Governor Newsom secured a Major Disaster Declaration (MDD) from the Biden-Harris administration. Among other assistance, this MDD provides eligible individuals with funds to help with temporary housing needs.

State’s all-in response

California has mobilized more than 16,000+ personnel including firefighters, guard servicemembers, highway patrol officers and transportation teams to support the ongoing firefight. 

In addition, these response efforts include more than 2,000 pieces of firefighting equipment, including 1,480+ engines, 80+ aircraft, 210+ dozers and 220+ water tenders to aid in putting out the fires.

Last week, Governor Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency, and he subsequently issued multiple executive orders to support communities affected by the ongoing fires. On Wednesday, President Biden quickly approved Governor Newsom’s request for a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration to support ongoing response efforts. The state also received continued federal assistance to combat the Hurst, Eaton, and Palisades Fires.

Get help today

Californians can go to CA.gov/LAfires  – a hub for information and resources from state, local and federal government. 

Individuals and business owners who sustained losses from wildfires in Los Angeles County can apply for disaster assistance:

• Online at DisasterAssistance.gov
• By calling 800-621-3362 
• By using the FEMA smart phone application
• Assistance is available in over 40 languages
• If you use a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA the number for that service.