Pelosi: Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is a Shining Example of a Public-Private Partnership"
Pelosi: Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is a Shining Example of a Public-Private Partnership"
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
San Francisco - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi joined members of FHLBank San Francisco to announce the total funding figures for the 2005 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) along with the recipients of the Round B AHP award that includes $6.3 million for California projects. Leader Pelosi was recognized for her work in Congress on affordable housing. This year, FHLBank San Francisco is awarding nearly $42 million in affordable housing grants to fund projects throughout California, Arizona, and Nevada. Since the inception of the AHP, the 8th District has received more than $27 million in AHP grants. Below are her remarks:
"Thank you very much Larry for your kind words and for sharing your perspective from the Federal Home Loan Bank. When I went into Congress in 1987, I became part of the Banking Subcommittee on Housing because it was important to our community, and I was honored to be part of the establishment of the Federal Home Loan Bank.
"I want to talk to you on a very personal level about this award because it means a great deal to me. To be here receiving it at Friendship House among so many friends is especially a great honor. When I was a little girl, my father was the Mayor of Baltimore from when I was in first grade to when I went away to college. My mother, as the First Lady made it her priority to provide housing for the poor. It was what drove her engine, it was her inspiration. In her obituary they said that her goal was to provide more affordable housing for poor people in Baltimore City. She used to say in her speeches, How can we teach children dignity and respect, if they don't have a place to live that is decent for them and tells them how important they are?'
"On this particular weekend, we were inspired in the opening remarks that Tom Philips brought us about Martin Luther King, Jr. My brother, at the time was Mayor of Baltimore and Dr. King was advocating for equal accommodations, not only in restaurants but equal accommodations in housing. And so again, raised in the same tradition that I was, my brother worked with Dr. King on equal accommodations in Baltimore to ensure that every person had the opportunity for respect and dignity through decent housing.
"When I came to California 37 years ago, I moved here to San Francisco and learned that the housing issue is greatly magnified by the high cost of living. So by the time I went to the Congress in 1987, I not only had in my DNA that affordable housing was something that people were owed and had to be made possible for them, but also coming from a place where housing costs are so high that we had to do something in public policy to make it more affordable.
"We also have the benefit from this great diversity in our community the imagination to come up with new ways to meet the needs of people. One example of that was HOPWA (Housing Opportunities for Persons with Aids), which I was proud to be the author of with my colleagues. To write a bill that provides housing opportunities for people with AIDS, to write the legislation and pass the bill with much resistance, you can just imagine. But our model that we followed was a San Francisco model, a mission to the people that we serve - meeting their needs and doing so in a way that gets the job done.
"The Federal Home Loan Bank is something to be very proud of because it is a shining example of public-private partnerships, working with non-profits and community service to meet the needs of the people, listening to people. It's the perfect setup. I'm very honored to receive this award from the Federal Home Loan Bank. I'll just say a few more words of praise about all the work they have done.
"In 1989, when they passed this bill in the committee, it was groundbreaking. People asked, Why are we doing this for one disease?' Well, we needed to and we did. There have been those, not from the bank but from other places, that say, Why do you continue to keep it at 10 percent, why don't you make it five percent?' We've always had to protect this as well. But, our biggest partner in protecting it has been the Federal Home Loan Bank. So, thank you very much Larry, and to all of you for representing the bank here today and your member banks.
"According to the National Low-income Housing Coalition annual report issued just last week, a full time worker earning the federal minimum wage cannot afford an apartment anywhere in the country. In San Francisco, we face exceptional challenges. A renter in our city earning the minimum wage, must work 140 hours a week - not 40 hours a week, 140 hours a week, 52 weeks a year to afford a one bedroom unit; well, that's physically impossible. That is three and a half full time jobs. Only 12 percent of households are able to purchase the median priced home and there are an estimated 3,000 chronically homeless people in San Francisco. And, thank God for Friendship House for bringing some of them home.
"The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is a shining star among Federal Home Loan Banks, as the largest and the most active. Just last year, the San Francisco bank alone awarded almost half the goal for Federal Home Loan Banks. I think it speaks to their greatness but also to the great model and the activity in the community to be able to attract that capital. You have built some of the greatest examples of high density affordable housing projects in our country.
"Here in San Francisco, I'm very proud to be a part of North Beach Place and the Hope VI grant. It was a model of investment for federal dollars to revitalize local communities. It's the largest mixed-use, mixed-income development effort of its time in California with first rate facilities, a separate building for seniors, a child care center, a community center, playground, business and computer center for resident entrepreneurs, and a technology center. I mention that because that was a public-private community partnership. These collaborations are successful because they are partnerships and they listen to the people who are being served.
"And here we are today at Friendship House of Native Americans. Helen, thank you, your board, your leadership, and your residents for bringing Indian country into San Francisco. The spirit, even the architecture of it all, the colors of the building are an inspiration, and make us all very proud. I'm sure the people who live here feel at home. By combining traditional healing practices with modern methods for treatment, the Friendship House is providing healthy, protected lives and we're very proud of them.
"That's why I am so proud to put $670,000 toward this effort over the years. I talked about HOPWA already. But, our work continues today. Federal Home Loan Bank is a great partner to all of our endeavors.
"I'm proud to join you in announcing the 2005 affordable housing program grants for our region which includes Arizona, California and Nevada. The grants in our region alone will total $42 million for the entire region. And of that, $2.4 million will fund five affordable housing projects in San Francisco and make a difference to 300 families in San Francisco.
"Here we are, Friendship House, a great example in the heart of the City, in the Tenderloin, the Haight, communities that are historically Native American, African American, Hispanic, Asian neighborhoods in need of economic development and we're developing everything in between. Federal Home Loan Bank is building homes and allowing people to stay where they have been for years and build their lives. So, thank you for all that you do. I'm honored by this award.
"I accept this with great pride on behalf of all of my constituents to whom housing is a priority, who sent me to Congress to fight for affordable housing. Looking at the beauty and lavishness of this gift, I'll have to consider it a gift to our office. But, the spirit in which it was given is one that I am greatly complemented.
"Since I was a little girl, this has been a priority for my family. When I went to Congress, it was a priority for my constituents and I was inspired by them; by the great models of national significance that exist in San Francisco. This is a culmination of a lot of things for me today. I'm honored to receive this from this distinguished panel of speakers. I'm especially honored to receive it with Georgia and Barry. Thank you so much."
http://democraticleader.house.gov/press/articles.cfm?pressReleaseID=1375