Building a Bright Future for Supportive Housing
Permanent supportive housing is a proven solution that helps people who are experiencing homelessness receive the support they need to stay healthy and housed long-term. RCD collaborates with our partners across the housing and homelessness response ecosystem to ensure that supportive housing is financed, resourced, and administered in a manner that helps residents thrive and transforms our communities for the better.
This work is in partnership with A link to: Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH), A link to: EveryOne Home, and A link to: Contra Costa Council on Homelessness.
Creating a Streamlined Financing System
Affordable housing developments must apply to multiple state financing agencies to obtain subsidies, bonds, and tax credits – adding additional costs and delaying the construction of affordable homes. RCD advocates for a “one stop shop” where a single application can access all state funding necessary to construct a new development.
This work is in partnership with A link to: California Housing Partnership and A link to: Housing California.
Pursuing Regional Solutions to our Housing Crisis
We all know that the status quo of unaffordable and insecure housing isn’t working for the Bay Area. To make change, we need to come together as neighbors to invest in solutions that build a future where everyone has a safe and affordable place to call home. RCD is proud to be a member of the Bay Area Housing for All coalition, a group of 40+ organizations working together towards regional housing solutions.
Promoting Resident Civic Engagement
Whether voting, volunteering, advocating, or otherwise engaging with government, civic participation is a cornerstone of a healthy community and an opportunity for individual empowerment. RCD works in partnership with resident leaders at our properties to promote voter registration and non-partisan voter education to foster more civically engaged communities.
This work is in partnership with A link to: East Bay Housing Organization (EBHO), A link to: National Low Income Housing Coalition, and A link to: National Voter Registration Day.
Active Campaigns
California has a shortage of 1.2 million affordable homes, yet public funding falls far short of the need. As shovel-ready affordable housing developments wait for funding, housing instability and homelessness continue to impact communities across the state.
RCD supports Proposition 1, the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026, which would invest $11.25 billion in affordable housing production, preservation, and homeownership. Proposition 1 would expand access to safe, affordable homes for California’s veterans, low-income seniors, survivors of domestic violence, foster youth, working families, and people with disabilities — with strict accountability, transparency, and without raising taxes.
A link to: Learn more and endorse Prop 1.
RCD is proud to support the Affordable Housing Bond Acts of 2026, which would place a $10 billion affordable housing bond on the 2026 statewide ballot to fund affordable housing development for the following four years. If passed, this bond would build and preserve over 45,000 affordable homes, help 13,000 families become homeowners, and create thousands of good-paying jobs for California workers.
Take Action! A link to: Join the statewide housing bond coalition to receive updates
RCD supports Measure X in the City of Berkeley, which contains targeted updates to the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Ordinance that improve administrative efficiency. Passing Measure X will reduce financial burdens on non-profit affordable housing organizations that provide key services to low income and elderly Berkeley residents, while maintaining existing legal protections for vulnerable residents. It will also enable the Rent Board to provide more efficient and effective services to landlords and tenants alike by modernizing and streamlining administrative processes.
Learn more at A link to: YesOnXBerkeley.org.
Homeless applicants cannot be denied supportive housing due to poor or inconsistent housing history. However, state funding programs still require that applicants provide extensive documentation related to their housing history, including third-party verification of homelessness, two years of rental history, and in some cases, landlord or personal references. Based on RCD’s experience providing permanent supportive housing, these documentation requirements often create unnecessary delays that can prevent people from accessing housing when it becomes available.
RCD supports A link to: AB 2146 by Assemblymember Stefani, which would expedite referrals to supportive housing by removing documentation requirements for state-funded affordable housing units. This is a practical bill to reduce delays, improve coordination, and get more Californians into housing faster.
Coordinated Entry is the front door to the homelessness response system, helping connect households to housing and services based on their needs. For example, an individual who needs deeply affordable housing with wrap-around supportive services may be matched with one of RCD’s permanent supportive homes through Coordinated Entry.
Limited resources and administrative barriers can slow the transition from homelessness to permanent housing. Through local Continuums of Care and statewide partnerships, RCD advocates for stronger, better-resourced Coordinated Entry systems that reduce delays and improve housing outcomes. In partnership with the NPH Supportive Housing Working Group, RCD is advancing best practices and policy recommendations that strengthen coordination and accelerate housing placements.
Read our recent publications on Coordinated Entry System improvement:
The Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program is California’s largest source of ongoing funding for affordable housing and sustainable community development. Through investments in affordable homes, transportation options, urban greening, and community infrastructure, AHSC helps communities reduce greenhouse gas emissions while improving quality of life.
In Spring 2026, AHSC funding was placed at risk following amendments to the Cap-and-Invest Program adopted by the California Air Resources Board. The changes are projected to reduce available revenue to less than one-fifth of anticipated funding levels, threatening affordable housing, transportation, infrastructure, and climate resilience projects across the state.
RCD is advocating alongside more than 80 organizations representing affordable housing, transit, transportation, environmental, labor, business, local government, and community interests in urging California leaders to protect these critical investments and preserve the state’s commitment to equitable, climate-smart communities.
Recent Wins
Alameda County voters passed Measure W in 2020 to enhance essential County services for those experiencing homelessness, including supportive housing, mental health services, job training, and other general fund safety nets. A lawsuit prevented Alameda County from allocating Measure W funds until 2025, at which point there was interest in exploring other potential uses. Because Measure W is a general tax, funds can support any County service.
RCD joined with over 50 local affordable housing, homelessness, housing justice organizations, and individuals to ask the Board of Supervisors to retain this money for housing and homelessness services. A link to: Read our coalition letter in support of using Measure W to fund homelessness solutions.
On July 30th, 2025, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors made a historic investment of more than $1.4 billion to homelessness solutions from Measure W (approximately 80% of annual funds). This is the largest commitment the County has ever made to address homelessness.
California’s Cap-and-Invest Program is more than a climate policy. It is a critical source of funding for programs that expand housing opportunities, improve transportation access, and support sustainable community development throughout the state, including the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program.
When the Legislature and Administration began the process of reauthorizing the program in 2025, the future of dedicated funding for AHSC was uncertain. RCD joined a broad coalition of advocates to ensure that AHSC remained a central priority in the reauthorization effort. In September 2025, California successfully reauthorized Cap-and-Invest through 2045 and secured a dedicated annual funding commitment of $800 million for AHSC.
This landmark achievement provides long-term certainty for affordable housing and community development investments and represents a significant victory for affordability, connectivity, sustainability, and equity across California.
RCD’s Affordable Housing Action Network
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Most importantly, California needs permanent, sustainable, and consistent sources of funding for new affordable housing development. Non-profit developers like RCD are rising to meet the community’s housing needs with a diverse pipeline of planned projects. However, more funding is needed to move those projects into construction. Enterprise Community Partners estimates that an additional $2.6 billion in state subsidy is required to finance the 47,000 affordable homes currently planned statewide.
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