Nonprofit Lift to Rise gets $5 million to finance affordable housing in Coachella Valley

Regional planning officials on Thursday awarded $5 million to a Coachella Valley nonprofit, Lift to Rise, to go toward more construction of affordable housing in the valley.

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Regional Council voted to approve the award, which will be added to We Lift: The Coachella Valley’s Housing Catalyst Fund, a pool of money that provides flexible, low-interest loans for developments that aim to increase the local supply of affordable housing.

The housing fund is formed by a partnership among Lift to Rise, the Low Income Investment Fund, Rural Community Assistance Corp. and Riverside County. As loans are repaid, money is re-loaned within the community, meaning funding is used over and over again to build different equitable and affordable housing options.

In addition to SCAG's $5 million award, the Low Income Investment Fund and Rural Community Assistance Corp. will match the contribution with another $5 million, bringing the We Lift: The Coachella Valley’s Housing Catalyst Fund to a total of $46 million.

Since it began in 2021, the Catalyst Fund has helped finance the construction of more than 600 affordable housing units. Past projects include the Vista Sunrise II apartments in Palm Springs, the JFM Villas apartments in Indio and the Villa Verde apartments in Coachella.

The new funding will be deployed to affordable projects ready to receive loans and support more than 250 units of affordable housing, said Lift to Rise spokesperson, Barrett Newkirk.

"The new funding isn't tied to specific projects, but Lift to Rise's overall goal is to start four new projects every year and to have helped build 10,000 new units by 2028," Barrett said.

That amount of new affordable housing would help decrease the number of rent-burdened valley residents by 30%, according to the Lift to Rise website.

More: Lift to Rise hosts inaugural Community Investment Awards celebration in Palm Desert

“We are grateful to the leadership from municipalities across Southern California who make up SCAG for recognizing the impact that innovative ideas like the Coachella Valley’s Housing Catalyst Fund are having in addressing the current housing crisis," the CEO of Lift to Rise, Heather Vaikona, said in a statement.

She added that the award came after "three years of advocacy from more than 70 dedicated local partners, thousands of community residents, and the leadership of Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia."

In 2022, the Catalyst Fund received $15 million from the state of California through a budget allocation secured by Garcia, D-Coachella, and he also expressed gratitude for the new additional resources in a statement.

“We are grateful to deliver a combined $20 million in state resources to accelerate the construction of local affordable housing,” Garcia said in a statement released by Lift to Rise.

In the Coachella Valley, two-thirds of households are rent-burdened, meaning they pay more than one-third of their income for rent.

“These additional funds will leverage the existing $2 million county investment in the Coachella Valley’s Housing Catalyst Fund to support more quality, affordable housing for our county’s vulnerable population,” said Mike Walsh, assistant director for the Riverside County Department of Housing and Workforce Solutions. “Placed-based public-private partnerships like the catalyst fund have proven to be successful in addressing local affordable housing needs, and Riverside County is proud to be an active partner in the network of organizations and residents working to give every person in the county a safe, stable home.”

The $5 million to Lift to Rise is part of $45 million SCAG awarded to 14 applicants working on ways to increase housing supply, choice, and affordability, particularly among vulnerable populations and unhoused people. Lift to Rise’s application was supported with letters from all nine Coachella Valley cities, the Riverside County Department of Housing and Workforce Solutions, the Lift to Rise Resident Leadership Table, the Coachella Valley Association of Governments, Garcia, Assemblymember Greg Wallis, and Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: $5 million to help fund Palm Springs-area affordable housing