Silicon Valley One - Fall 2007 - (Page 5)

of-living expenses, especially in the housing arena. “A lot of the lower-income people can’t afford to live here,” says Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage. So, back in 1999, Gage helped spearhead the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County, which assists first-time homebuyers like Hildreth, who received a grant from the Housing Trust for about $7,000 to help with the closing costs on her condo. When the Housing Trust was first proposed, most of the 300 other housing trusts across the country had originated through new taxes or new fees. This housing trust is a partnership between Santa Clara County, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and Silicon Valley Community Foundation. They join a movement of other groups that seek to provide affordable housing in one of the priciest areas in the country; these organizations include the Housing Endowment and Regional Trust of San Mateo County, known as HEART, a joint venture of 11 cities and San Mateo County. “The money was to be used for three separate but related programs to alleviate the housing crisis: lowcost second mortgages for teachers, firefighters, nurses cities) and 60 percent came from private sources, mostly from members of the Leadership Group. Led by Santa Clara County, Intel and Knight Ridder, Silicon Valley employers followed suit with lead gifts from Adobe, Applied Materials, Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard. With an additional drive in 2003 and one that began in 2005, the Housing Trust, a nonprofit 501(c)(3), has now raised more than $33 million. In return, it has invested almost $8 million in developing prevention programs and 17 shelters for the homeless and people with special needs, more than $5 million in 15 affordable multifamily rental developments and almost $14 million in loans and grants to first-time homebuyers like Hildreth. “Whether I’m talking with CEOs in their boardrooms or with their employees in living rooms, housing is the biggest issue,” says Carl Guardino, president and CEO of the Leadership Group. The societal ramifications of stratospheric housing prices are dark and deep, says Ed Moncrief, executive director, Neighborhood Housing “Whether I’m talking with CEOs in their boardrooms or with their employees in living rooms, housing is the biggest issue.” and others important to the community who have a hard time living here; gap financing to developers of affordable housing; and transitional housing to move homeless people into situations where they would not become homeless again,” says Peter Hero, who was the president of the community foundation when the Housing Trust began. They set out to raise $20 million in two years; they did it in 18 months. Of that first $20 million, 40 percent came from the public sector (the federal government, Santa Clara County and its 15 Services Silicon Valley, a nonprofit lender and real estate broker that helps low- and moderate-income people buy homes—and a key partner in the Housing Trust. “We have many, many people driving hours to get to their jobs, latch-key kids left alone for long periods of time, and workers who have no sense of connection to their community. Our sole focus is to keep families close to home. We think the implications for that are profound.” Just ask Hildreth and many others like her. “I love living here,” she says. And the Housing Trust helps her do just that. one c one 5 www.siliconvalleycf.org innovation through philanthropy http://siliconvalleycf.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Silicon Valley One - Fall 2007

From Emmett D. Carson Home Run Back From the Brink Checking In on Corporate Giving Central Valley Air Gets a Breather Why I Give Five Minutes With ... Full Faith and Credit Giving and Receiving What If?

Silicon Valley One - Fall 2007

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