By Stephen Witt
It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes the San Gabriel Valley leadership working together to help some of its less fortunate residents.
That was the overarching message when State Senator Susan Rubio (D-Alhambra, Baldwin Park, El Monte, Monterey Park, San Gabriel, South El Monte, West Covinar) received the Housing Advocate Award at the San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust’s fifth anniversary celebration on Wednesday in Montebello.
The Trust, which has funded more than 1,000 affordable housing units since its inception, brought together lawmakers and housing advocates to celebrate collaborative efforts that have secured tens of millions of dollars in state funding for the region, supporting permanent supportive housing, interim shelters, and affordable housing development.
Rubio, who authored Senate Bill 751 that created the Trust in 2019, was joined by Assembly Members Blanca Rubio, Mike Fong and John Harabedia at the celebration, where officials emphasized the importance of regional collaboration in addressing housing affordability and homelessness.
The legislation, signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in October 2019, authorized cities within the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments’ (SGVCOG) jurisdiction to form a Joint Powers Authority to fund housing for homeless populations and extremely low-, very low-, and low-income families.
“When I started working as a state senator, and one of the things that fueled my fire was when I was campaigning and knocking on doors and taking the time to speak to people about what was the issue that they were more concerned with, and unanimously, almost, it didn’t matter what political affiliation you were, young, old—it didn’t matter—you all agreed on one issue, and that was making sure everyone was housed,” Rubio said.
The senator, who taught in San Gabriel Valley schools for 20 years, said her classroom experience shaped her commitment to addressing homelessness. “As a teacher, we want to ensure that students are learning, but ask them how they’re feeling, and their concern is not academics. They’re worried about food on their bellies. They’re worried about where they’ll sleep the next day. They’re worried about the concern they see on the faces of their parents,” she said.
The Trust was formally established in February 2020 and now includes 21 member cities working collaboratively to address the region’s affordable housing crisis. It is governed by a nine-member Board of Directors composed of elected officials from seven member cities and two housing and homelessness experts.
“We are better together. We are better when we collaborate, when we leave our personal, political differences aside, and we come together, because that’s how important we are to the families on the street,” Rubio said. “We’re not going to solve it one city at a time. This is a regional issue. This is a collaborative issue.”
Rubio said the Trust has invested nearly $40 million to fund 927 affordable housing units. “When I hear 927 affordable housing units, that doesn’t mean people. You imagine how many people live in a home. So multiply that times five, times four, times two—we are doing an incredible thing here,” she said.
The senator described visiting the tiny homes project in her hometown of Baldwin Park, where she knows the residents personally. “Housing and homelessness are personal to me,” Rubio said. “I know those residents personally. I know who they are. They talk to me and they call me Susie.”
“Five years ago, there was a shared vision that if we work together, we put in some time, some effort, and some money, we can actually have real results for people, and we did,” said Harabedian. “Before thinking on this, at the time, everything was shut down. We had just started COVID.”
“Senator Rubio is a force of nature in the Senate,” Harabedian said. “I have no doubt that this probably wouldn’t have gotten done but through Rubio’s leadership.”
Dr. Dhakshike Wickrema, Deputy Secretary for Homelessness at California’s Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, represented Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration at the event. She noted that many of the Trust-funded units will remain affordable for 55 years, meaning they will serve far more than 1,000 households over their lifespan.
“In just five years, the San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust has built partnerships that bridge jurisdictions and translated shared goals into tangible, community-based projects,” Wickrema said. “The issues of housing are intricate, and we really want to make sure that families and individuals, especially those making no more than 80% of area median income, have housing that they can afford.”
The celebration highlighted the Trust’s success in securing significant state funding despite challenging budget conditions. Harabedian noted that when the current budget cycle began, the governor’s initial proposal included zero dollars for housing, but lawmakers successfully advocated to restore over $1 billion to housing programs.
He also referenced the upcoming $20 billion housing bond that will appear on the ballot, calling it essential to funding the estimated 450 affordable housing units still in the pipeline awaiting financing.
Fong emphasized the proof-of-concept nature of the Trust’s work.
“I think on housing, there’s so much more work to do,” said Fong. “I think it’s a shining spot in an otherwise somewhat dreary year to actually celebrate this.”
