Sacramento Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc., a pre-eminent nonprofit community development organization in Sacramento , was created in 1987 by a group of committed community, business and government leaders to address the affordable housing needs of the Sacramento region. Currently, doing business as NeighborWorks Home Ownership Center Sacramento Region or NeighborWorks Sacramento, it serves an 11-county region through a range of comprehensive community development services that promote healthy neighborhoods, access to healthy food, sustainable home ownership, financial empowerment and the development of high quality affordable housing.
Since our founding, we have educated 24,140 families in the home buying process, 4,515 of which have become homeowners, acquiring more than $220 million in real estate. And during the previous housing crisis, it helped thousands of families avoid foreclosure. Also, our organization has rehabbed or built 193 affordable homes for low-to-moderate income families with an additional economic impact of $46.5million. These homes have stimulated the real estate market while helping families build wealth. In addition, our down payment assistance program has provided $16.5 million for customers buying their first home. The work we do in these communities is enhanced by Paint the Town, where 10,635 volunteers have completed 481 beautification projects in low-wealth neighborhoods, with a total investment of $240,500.
We are particularly proud of our 2 Farmer Markets which serve more than 26,000 families each year. Our CalFresh/EBT incentives match doubles the power of low-income families to purchase healthy food. Since we launched our first Farmers Market in 2010, we have provided more than $250,000 in EBT benefits to more than 8,000 families. This support has allowed them to purchase more than 1 million servings of quality, locally grown, healthy food.
Our mission is to partner with underrepresented communities to build healthy, sustainable, an equitable neighborhoods through education and counseling, housing development, empowerment and advocacy.
There is significant uncertainty in the housing market, supply as well as demand, created by COVID-19 pandemic that discourage home seekers to remain interested in buying homes or are afraid of foreclosure. This is particularly exacerbated by job losses; for example, for the week ending on March 21, 2020 the Employment Development Department (EDD) has processed 186,809 unemployment insurance (UI) claims, a 363% increase from the same week in 2019. As a result of this uncertainty, NW Sacramento is experiencing a significant increase in the number of calls from customers experiencing financial issues who are unable to pay their mortgages. These individuals are financially vulnerable to losing their homes or to become victims of fraud. And for those still interested in purchasing, the limited supply of homes remains a restraining factor.
Low-income communities lack resources to buy nutritious food, food stores, or other sources of healthy foods. For example, Sacramento's Oak Park, a low-income community area, has a significant number of residents who live more than a mile from the nearest supermarket (Data from USDA). Information compiled by California Food Policy Advocates, a state anti-hunger advocacy group, indicates that more than 148,000 adults (39%) in Sacramento County lack money and resources to buy good food (food insecure). Almost 1 in 5 people in Sacramento are living in poverty and more than 213,000 individuals receive CalFresh EBT benefits. Oak Park and several surrounding neighborhoods are identified as "communities of concern" in Kaiser's 2016 Community Health Needs Assessment. As a result of these deficiencies, the mortality rate for diabetes is more twice and that of heart diseases is 50% higher in Oak Park than in the State of California.
Low Supply of Affordable Homes in Rural Communities. Rural community's households are unable to afford the cost of housing, according to a study released by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI). In many rural areas, residents have few mortgage lender options, limiting their ability to obtain affordable mortgages. For example, in Arbuckle, CA, a rural area in Colusa County has been identified as a distressed and underserved census tract by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council's (FFIEC). Households in Arbuckle have a median income of $56,824. Of the 1,614 employed residents, 55.1%, earned income that qualify for USDA assistance, 60.5% of homeowners and 58.5% of renters are cost burdened; they spend more than 30% of their income paying housing costs.
Organization name
NeighborWorks Sacramento Region
other names
NWSAC
Tax id (EIN)
68-0118032
Mission Category
Community Improvement, Capacity Building
Operating Budget
$500,001-$1 million
Organization Need
Funding: Program
Address
2411 Alhambra Blvd Ste. 200Sacramento County, CA, US
Yolo County, CA, US
Placer County, CA, US
San Joaquin County, CA, US
Solano County, CA, US