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TIA BOATMAN PATTERSON’S VISION FOR CALHFA
“So, this means we need to work on her depth and range of experience getting people out of homelessness in the housing world. A lawyer by and into low-income housing and trade, her experience includes stints then out of low-income housing working in the California Assembly as and into a market-rate apartment or a consultant, then as special assistant buying their own home. This issue to Assembly Speakers Karen is personal to me because Bass and Fabien Nunez; I have actually working in the taken that journey private sector as with my mother THE BIGGEST a housing lawyer; and my sister. BARRIERS TO and serving We experienced HOMEOWNERSHIP ARE as General homelessness, EDUCATION AND DOWN Counsel for the we lived PAYMENT ASSISTANCE, SO I’M Sacramento in public HOPING CALHFA CAN FILL THOSE Housing and housing in a GAPS AND HELP MORE BLACK mixed-income AND BROWN PEOPLE BECOME neighborhood HOMEOWNERS AND START Redevelopment and then my mom used a firsttime homebuyer TO BUILD GENERATIONAL WEALTH. Agency, the local housing authority in program to Sacramento. purchase a home.” Now, in addition According to a recent article in CALmatters, while Black people make up just 6% of California’s overall population, around 30% of the state’s homeless are Black. When it comes to homeownership, a history of discriminatory practices to her role directing CalHFA, Boatman Patterson also serves as the Board Chair for the National Council of State Housing Agencies and, in 2019, she spent a year as Governor Gavin Newsom’s Senior Advisor on Housing. and government polices such as With all of that experience, as well as redlining, have resulted in just 33% of her personal story growing up in rural Black California households owning Tulare, Boatman Patterson knows their home compared to 60% of white only too well the challenges that households. Black Californians face when it comes CalHFA offers a variety of programs to housing and homeownership. to address these issues. The “The biggest barriers to Agency’s Multifamily Division partners homeownership are education and with affordable housing developers to down payment assistance, so I’m finance the creation and preservation hoping CalHFA can fill those gaps of rental housing for families in danger and help more Black and brown of homelessness and those who people become homeowners and make a slightly higher income but start to build generational wealth,” are still struggling to afford housing Boatman Patterson said. near where they work. Meanwhile, CalHFA’s Homeownership Division provides first mortgages and crucial down payment assistance to help low- and moderate-income California families buy their first home. CalHFA’s down payment assistance program used $214 million to help to those 13,000 families from across the state over the past year, 8% of them Black and 53% of them Latinx. The program provides up to 3.5% of The Agency, which helped more than the purchase price as a silent second 13,000 Californians become first- mortgage so that homebuyers who time homebuyers in the past year, is have good credit and can afford their constantly expanding and refining its monthly bills but haven’t been able programs to make sure it is reaching to save up, can use that money for a as many people possible. Boatman down payment. Patterson leads those efforts using Knowing about assistance programs | 47 | THE HUB MAGAZINE FALL 2020 FALL 2020 like these and knowing that needing 20% for a down payment is a myth, is about education. “If you have parents or family that have been homeowners, they can pass on that knowledge to you and typically your parents can use that equity that they have built to help you with a down payment,” said Boatman Patterson. “I want people to understand that you too can buy a home and start building that wealth.” CalHFA has been working to get the word out through the network of private lenders it partners with, and through a new Black Homeownership marketing campaign, which is focusing on strategic community partnerships with organizations such as Sacramento Cultural Hub. “One of the things we have found is that Black and brown folks don’t always go to a major bank when they are looking to get a mortgage or get information on how to buy a home,” said Boatman Patterson. “They will go to a mortgage broker or a real estate agent or just ask a friend they know that owns a home. That is why we need to be strategic with how we get information out to the community. “Every beauty shop that I go into and every barber shop that I go into, I see the Sacramento Cultural Hub. So it is things like that.” Another good source of information is housing counseling agencies, which are certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These agencies help people who may be in danger of foreclosure or eviction, or people who are interested in learning about what it takes to buy and maintain a home. CalHFA is working on a brand-new program to provide $50 million to counseling programs all over the state so that they can build capacity and provide free sessions to Californians. The money comes from the National Mortgage Settlement Fund. n
Tia Boatman Patterson, Executive Director California Housing Finance Agency www.calhfa.ca.gov
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HIGH FIVE TO ALL THE BUSINESS WOMEN MAKING IT HAPPEN!!
National Business Women’s Day is celebrated every year on September 22. This day is about honoring the increasing role that women have to play in the world of business today. While most people will acknowledge that there is still some work that needs to be done for women to have a level playing field in all industries around the world, there is no denying that great leaps have been taken. Black Women have made special strides in regards to the ever growing fight to be acknowledged and gain respect in the business world. Although we have been leading the statistics in the most created business in the US for the last 2 years, we have not been celebrated in that area. Even though the official National Business Women’s day has passed, ANY day is the perfect opportunity to acknowledge those strides and pay tribute to those that have had a massive role in making them. You can celebrate Business Women’s Day by having the courage to make your voice heard. Network with other women and business and partner with them to offer support and resources. Finally, support women owned and operated businesses. Make your dollars count. Find a business service or products that you like and support them financially. Lets celebrate our accomplishments and triumphs together. Support our efforts and our future women leaders.
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SHRA IS A JEWEL IN SACRAMENTO’S CROWN Meet the agency’s La Shelle Dozier and Tyrone Roderick Williams
By Contributing Writer, Michael P Coleman
The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) is observing its 80th anniversary. The agency administers the federal public housing program for Sacramento. Here’s a blurb from a statement SHRA published last August:
Early last March, I was given the opportunity to learn what the agency was all about firsthand, when I was invited to interview members of SHRA’s team. As I drove to their offices in downtown Sacramento during that sunny morning, I didn’t realize that I would be conducting what will most likely be my final face-to-face interviews of 2020!
My first chat was with La Shelle Dozier, SHRA’s executive director. As we greeted each other on that pre-COVID morning, Dozier offered a handshake. At the end of our time together, as we stood up from the table in that conference room, she leaned in for a hug.
While far from standard business practice, ours had been a substantive, moving conversation. I’ve not spoken to Dozier since that day, but I believe each of us had a feeling that the other needed something more than just a handshake.
And between the handshake and the hug, Dozier spoke with a palpable zeal about her phenomenal team and their work in Northern California. It had been a long time since I had been so moved during an interview.
Minutes later, I sat down with Tyrone Roderick Williams, SHRA’s Deputy Executive Director - Development. Williams exudes positivity, displays seemingly boundless energy — and as hard as it was to believe, Williams insisted that he doesn’t consume caffeine. After you get to know him, you’ll understand why that’s so hard to believe!
After talking to Williams, I think his picture should pop up when you Google “change agent.” He’s also a man of faith, and you can believe me when I say that Williams literally moves heaven and earth to accomplish his as his team’s goals at SHRA. But if you want to stay on Williams’s good side, don’t forget the “Roderick” when you’re calling his name!
Go to shra.org and read more about La Shelle Dozier and Tyrone RODERICK Williams, the first in THE HUB’s series on SHRA, as the agency observes its 80th anniversary. n
Michael P Coleman is a Sacramento-based freelance writer who, as a kid, used to talk to strangers and get punished. Today, he talks to strangers and gets PUBLISHED. Connect with him at MichaelPColeman.com.
ADOS Voting guide 2020
CALIFORNIA STATE BALLOT PROPOSITIONS
About ADOS: ADOS is an acronym for AMERICAN DESCENDANTS OF SLAVERY, the 35 Million Americans whose ancestors were enslaved here in the United States by the United States, and who suffered through Jim Crow. By definition, we are a lineage. The ADOS Movement is a lineage based Reparations and Black Agenda political movement. Our top goals include Reparations for ADOS, political accountability, and political education. For more info, visit www.ados101.com. ADOS California comprises chapters in Los Angeles, Sacramento, SoCal, Inland Empire, Fresno, San Diego and the Bay Area.
PROP 14 : California Proposition 14, Stem Cell Research Institute Bond Initiative VOTE NO What it does:
A “yes” vote supports issuing $5.5 billion general obligation bonds for the state’s stem cell research institute and making changes to the institute’s governance structure and programs. A “no” vote opposes issuing $5.5 billion general obligation bonds for the state’s stem cell research institute, which ran out funds derived from Proposition 71 (2004) for new projects in 2019.
ADOS Community Impact:
No immediate foreseeable impact on California Black (ADOS) communities. However, we caution against increasing State debt during this time of large budget deficits. When debt grows, the threat of increasing sales taxes grows as well. Rising sales taxes disproportionately negatively impacts Black (ADOS) communities. For these reasons, we recommend a vote of NO.
PROP 15: Tax on Commercial and Industrial Properties for Education and Local Government Funding Initiative VOTE YES What it does:
A “yes” vote supports this constitutional
amendment to require commercial and industrial properties, except those zoned as PROP 16: California Proposition 16, 2020 Voter Guide: commercial agriculture, to be taxed based on their market value, rather than their Repeal Proposition 209 Affirmative Action Amendment California State Ballot Propositions purchase price. A “no” vote opposes this constitutional amendment, thus continuing to tax VOTE YES What it does: About ADOS: ADOS is an acronym for AMERICAN DESCENDANTS OF SLAVERY, the 35 Million Americans whose ancestors were enslaved here in the United States by the United States, and who suffered through Jim Crow. By definition, we are a lineage. The ADOS Movement is a lineage based Reparations and Black Agenda political movement. Our top goals include Reparations for Acommercial and industrial properties based DOS, political accountability, and political education. A “yes” vote supports this constitutional For more info, visit www.ados101.com. on a property’s purchase price, with annual amendment to repeal Proposition 209 Aincreases equal to the rate of inflation or 2 DOS California comprises chapters in Los Angeles, (1996), which stated that the government Sacramento, SoCal, Inland Empire, Fresno, percent, whichever is lower.San Diego and the Bay Area. and public institutions cannot discriminate
ADOS Community Impact: against or grant preferential treatment to persons on the basis of race, sex, color,
Wealth inequality is the number 1 indicator ethnicity, or national origin in public of structural racism. A legacy of Slavery employment, public education, and public and Jim Crow itself. Wealth accumulation in contracting. the 21st Century is largely due to inherited wealth. Inherited wealth is exclusionary by its nature. Because Black Americans were excluded from original wealth accumulation opportunities, the current property and tax schemes contribute to wealth exclusion. A change to the current property and tax scheme is in order. One that targets inherited exclusionary wealth for just redistribution. For these reasons, we A “no” vote opposes this constitutional amendment, thereby keeping Proposition 209 (1996), which stated that the government and public institutions cannot discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to persons on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, public education, and public contracting. recommend a vote of YES .
