Social Challenge of Our Time

How can we ensure that all Bay Area residents have access to affordable housing and homelessness is rate? That is the question through which we are exploring our spring Battery Powered theme on Housing & Homelessness. At Expert Night, we got a crash course from Carol Galante, former Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development under the Obama administration, on the current state of the housing crisis in the Bay Area, the impact it is having on people and families, and how we got to this point. The short answer: the supply of housing is woefully inadequate as compared to the increase in jobs and population, causing a mismatch between supply and demand that has led to soaring housing prices even as wages remain stagnant. 

Tomiquia Moss, Senator Scott Wiener and Carol continued the conversation, with Dan Kingsley moderating, to discuss solutions, innovations, and our role in advancing solutions. The good news? "The politics of housing is only moving in one direction," Senator Wiener shared, and support for change is on the rise. If you didn't get a chance to join us, you can catch a recording of the evening HERE.

To learn more about our Housing & Homelessness theme, check out the Issue Brief HERE.

All Photos by Julie Schuchard.         

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