Three Sacramento nonprofits recently received grants from Umpqua Bank through its Joy of Giving campaign on Facebook. Mutual Housing California was awarded $5,000. Women’s Empowerment was granted $2,000 and Roseville Home Start $1,000. On November 20, Umpqua Bank asked people to post comments about local nonprofits on its Facebook page. The campaign ran through December 16. Nominated nonprofits had to be located within Umpqua Bank’s four-state territory—Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada. Mutual Housing staff posted the campaign to its Facebook page on November 27. Executive Director Rachel Iskow sent out an email asking people to respond. The bank selected 25 nonprofits to sha

On Saturday afternoon, Sacramento Kings joined with Nokia Siemens Networks and Verizon Wireless to give away 200 holiday dinners for local families at Sleep Train Arena. Twenty-five Mutual Housing California families were among the recipients of the traditional turkey dinners that serve six to eight people. Mutual Housing community organizers worked with property management staff to identify the families who would need dinners the most this holiday season. Families had to be on available the day of the event and have transportation. Latrise James, a resident at River Garden Estates Mutual Housing Community, and her family were grateful recipients. “It was a blessing having help in my ti

It took Cherie Hunt 22 hours and 16 pounds of confectioner’s sugar to make her gingerbread bungalow house. Red licorice bricks and spearmint gum shingles trim the gingerbread house that she modeled after her former Oakland home (which presumably did not have a candy exterior). Hunt’s creation was a winning entry in the second annual Sacramento Self Help Housing (SSHH) gingerbread house competition on Dec. 1. The event was held to draw attention to the need for stable and affordable housing for those who are homeless or in crisis. Competitors were asked to build a gingerbread home that reflects their concept of where the homeless make a home. In the kid’s category, there was a gingerbrea

Mutual Housing California recently received a grant from the Sacramento Municipal Arts Commission (SMAC) for an arts program at their community in North Highlands. At the classes, participants such as Mutual Housing at the Highlands resident Crystal Irwin used specially designed techniques created by Sierra College Adjunct Professor of Art Patricia Wood. “The idea is to approach art in many different ways instead of just one academic way,” said Wood, who also is the Visual Arts Coordinator at Shore Center South. “When you bring as many different points of view to art as possible, students are not tied to one way of learning and you can get results quickly.” The approach creates an immed

Mutual Housing at the Highlands, a 90-apartment community in North Highlands, has been nominated by the Sacramento Business Journal for their 2011-2012 Real Estate Projects award. Winners will be announced September 21. Sacramento|Yolo Mutual Housing Association’s 16th community is one of 17 projects chosen as finalists for the award. Projects such as Sacramento International Airport Terminal B, UC Davis West Village and the California State Lottery Headquarters also were nominated. “We are honored to be included with these other amazing projects,” said Rachel Iskow, Mutual Housing’s executive director. “The nominee list makes clear that in spite of a grueling economy, many dedicated rea

The Green Line light rail segment's slow start with relatively low ridership, is part of the plan, officials say. Regional Transit’s newest light rail segment has only seen about 150 riders a day, Tony Bizjak reported in Friday’s Sacramento Bee – a low number for a $44 million project that opened with great pomp and circumstance in June. However, Regional Transit Executive Director Michael Wiley disputes those numbers, saying the Green Line has actually been averaging closer to 300 riders per day – and it’s a number he said he’s comfortable with. “Our expectation wasn’t that we were going to achieve really high ridership numbers right off the bat,” Wiley said. “Our plan all along was to

Sacramento|Yolo Mutual Housing Association recently hired Fernando Cibrian as the Lead Community Organizer. In that position, he will oversee community organizing, community building and leadership development in Sacramento and Yolo counties. Cibrian was formerly with the PICO National Network and PICO California (PICO) where he focused on creating policy campaigns to improve living conditions for low- and moderate-income families. At PICO he also helped organize the network’s voter development strategy. Cibrian has a Bachelor of Science from California State University, Pomona, and 18 years experience as a community organizer. He is a former board member of the Santa Ana Federal Empowe

Mindy Romero recently was appointed to the City of Davis Social Services Commission to fill a vacancy on the eight-member board. When her term ends in September, Romero hopes to get re-appointed for a full three-year term. The Davis resident also was appointed to the Yolo County Community Services Action Board. She will serve a four-year term on that board. Both boards help administer federal community block grants.As part of the 15-member Yolo County board, Romero also will help create a community services action plan for the region. “We are pleased to appoint Mindy Romero to the Community Services Action Board,” said Don Saylor, Yolo County Supervisor District 2. “Yolo County will ben

Sacramento|Yolo Mutual Housing Association recently was chosen to lead the Corporation for Enterprise Development’s (CFED) new Assets and Opportunity Network in the local area. “Participation in this network allows us to work with other communities and take advantage of information on asset-building and ways to promote resident financial stability,” said Amy Williamson, Mutual Housing’s Special Projects Coordinator. As the local lead for the network, Mutual Housing and their partners will continue offer financial workshops at their 16 communities in Sacramento and Yolo County. Some of the partners are Golden 1 and Roseville Bank of Commerce as well as Bank of the West, SAFE Credit Union

On Saturday, June 2nd, 50 local neighbors and residents started building a fence for the River Gardens Mutual Housing Community garden plots. Volunteers from Boy Scouts of America Troop 122 also helped. To keep everyone going,  the Health Education Council brought their people-powered “smoothie bike” that made treats for the day-long event. “We also had a resident DJ during the lunch break,” said Brandon Louie, Mutual Housing community organizer. “Despite the extreme heat, we had a great mix of people working all day long and hope to have the 900-ft. fence finished by the end of the week.” “Mutual Housing does so much good for Sacramento that it’s always a pleasure to be part of their e

Sacramento Housing Alliance recently gave Sacramento|Yolo Mutual Housing Association the Community Development Award for its work on Mutual Housing at the Highlands. Mutual Housing received the award partially because the 90-apartment complex took nine years to build. Securing funding from the public and private sector—as well as creating partnerships with other local nonprofits to supply the onsite support services for the homeless residents of the community—created particularly difficult challenges for the local nonprofit developer. “That this development got built at all is a testament to the hard work and dedication of Mutual Housing, its staff and board,” said California Insurance C

On Thursday, May 24, Mutual Housing at the Highlands received the Community Development Award from the Sacramento Housing Alliance for its work on Mutual Housing at the Highlands. To secure funding for the Highlands, which includes onsite support services for the homeless residents, took nine years. “That this development got built is a testament to the hard work and dedication of Mutual Housing, its staff and board,” said California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, when he presented the award. A former Sacramento|Yolo Mutual Housing Association board of director, Jones also noted that Mutual Housing “does more than build quality housing for families. They also develop resident leaders

Historically, landlords of multi-unit housing rental properties have been required to include 15% of “affordable” units for low and very low-income tenants. That is changing, in part due to a 2009 landmark court decision in Los Angeles (Palmer/Sixth Street Properties, L.P. v. City of Los Angeles). The court found that forcing landlords to provide low-income units without subsidies violated the Costa-Hawkins Act, which allows landlords to raise rents after tenants move out, effectively eliminating rent control. Why is a lack of Affordable Housing important? Consider… The jobless rate in Sacramento rose slightly last week to 11.4%.* About 93,000 jobless workers were recently notified tha

Nearly seven years after completing infrastructure work for housing developments in Natomas, developers are still receiving reimbursement payments from the city as part of an unusual “pay-as-you-go” arrangement between the city and the developer. “(This situation) is unique in that the city doesn’t pay for everything at once,” City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby said Tuesday. When the City Council agreed Tuesday to take $1.1 million from a Mello Roos special tax fund to reimburse a developer for public improvement projects, it was the eighth such payment in four years on an ongoing agreement that is usually handled a different way. Typically, the city issues bonds to pay builders immediat

Sacramento|Yolo Mutual Housing Association recently hired Ryan Chin as Operations Manager. At Mutual Housing, he will oversee human resource, risk management, contracts administration, computer networks and systems, and office management. He also will play an integral role in organizational development of the nonprofit and be a member of Mutual Housing’s management team. Chin was formerly California State University, Sacramento, Publications’ Director where he managed the publications for the university, including the online version of Sac State Magazine as well as materials for the colleges and departments. As an Associate Director of Marketing at Stanford University, he promoted the St

With lenders tightening credit and the housing market still in flux, renters and homeowners are finding it hard to find an affordable place to live. Because funding is at all-time lows, nonprofit developers of multi-family and for-sale housing are looking for new ways to finance communities for people of modest means. Sacramento|Yolo Mutual Housing Association is no exception. The recent introduction of California bills like the HOMeS Act (Senate Bill 1220) could help. Introduced by Mark DeSaulnier (C-Concord) and Senate President pro tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) as well as co-author Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) on the Assembly side, the bill would generate an estimated $700 million

The Feb. 15 groundbreaking of the 72-acre lot that neighbors Sacramento City College brought the campus one step closer to becoming a bridge between the Land Park and Curtis Park neighborhoods. The vacant lot east of Hughes Stadium and the Union Pacific rail line, which once served as a rail yard, is being transformed into a neighborhood by Petrovich Development Company. The new community will be called Curtis Park Village, a residential and retail development featuring a pedestrian bridge connecting it to the City College light rail station. “On the north side, it’s going to be single family housing, parks, low-income senior housing, apartments and condominiums,” said City College Vice

Mere days before the Feb. 1 deadline to end redevelopment, the City Council is faced with two important decisions: what role the city will take in the aftermath, and what will happen to agency staff when redevelopment ends. Although the City Council did not take any action at the meeting Tuesday, City Manager John Shirey outlined the next steps for council members as the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency winds down. Shirey is the former executive director president of the California Redevelopment Association. SHRA is the agency responsible for redevelopment in Sacramento County and the city. An important factor in the process is figuring out what responsibilities the city wil

District 8 City Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell hosted a bus tour Thursday highlighting recent redevelopment efforts and future growth opportunities throughout the district with a group of developers, real estate brokers and city employees – along with a few district residents and neighborhood association representatives. “This is going to be a tour of opportunities,” said City Manager John Shirey at the start of the tour. “We’ve got a good future for this district.” The Meadowview and south city areas have seen the second-greatest rate of growth in all of Sacramento, second only to North Natomas in District 1, Pannell said. “We have had a lot of growth (in District 8),” Pannell said, “and

A delegation of Sacramento business and political leaders returned from a four-day tour of New Orleans with fresh insight into what it takes for a city to recover and thrive after a disaster, including improving transportation methods, sustainable housing and flood protections. “New Orleans had a unique opportunity to reinvent itself because of all the investments made there after Katrina,” City Councilman Kevin McCarty said Tuesday. “We need to look at how we can reinvent ourselves here, too.” On Tuesday, Council Members Angelique Ashby, Steve Cohn and Kevin McCarty and Mayor Kevin Johnson shared the lessons learned from the people in New Orleans about methods of recovery the city has u