Canal Alliance and Marin Housing Leaders Convene for Summit

By Marc Tafolla, San Francisco Foundation

We have to address our housing crisis if we are going to realize our vision of building a racially just and economically inclusive Bay Area.  We were proud to co-sponsor a panel of creative dedicated leaders who are looking at housing issues in Marin County and beyond.   

The Canal Alliance shared a summary which noted: 

“The event convened a panel of housing leaders from across the Bay Area, representing different sectors with impact in the housing space: public sector, nonprofit, private developers, philanthropy and academia…The overarching message from the panelists was this: “Marin, you can do it, we can help.” Expert speakers highlighted the immense potential of Marin County to become a housing leader, despite its history. They also focused on abundant resources available to county housing leaders, especially if they work together.   

The panel concluded with closing remarks from Jonathan Logan from the Marin Community Foundation. “Today feels different because of the folks that are in this room, we have homeless advocates, developers and this is very much different than what we’ve seen before. Folks from our community have stepped up. Omar [Carrera] wasn’t always in housing, given the need and the severity of the crisis, [he] has stepped up and leaned into this,” said Logan before thanking everyone for gathering, listening and collaborating on what to do about the housing crisis in Marin County.” 

Read the rest of Canal Alliance’s write up. 

• Ricardo Huerta Niño, who leads SFF-initiative Great Communities Collaborative, shared some perspectives on areas of community opportunities, the hopeful context of Marin County’s support for housing, the emerging multi-sector collaborative, and how the community can build on that foundation to tackle the housing crisis. View his remarks 
• Somaya Abdelgany, with the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority, gave an excellent presentation on BAHFA and the impact of the new regional housing agency and the proposed regional housing bond.  View her remarks. 

Read the story on SFF.