CEO Update from Greg Kepferle
Dear Friends,
When the Loma Prieta Earthquake struck the Bay Area on October 17, 1989, Catholic Charities’ response to the disaster led to an amazing legacy. Starting with a $10,000 disaster response grant from Catholic Charities USA, we created a housing program at John XXIII Multi-Service Center that by 1993 morphed into our affiliated Charities Housing Development Corporation. Now, thirty years later, with a lot of hard work and specialized expertise in the complex world of affordable housing financing, the staff of Charities Housing have developed over 1,500 units of permanent affordable housing and are on track to build and manage another 2,500 units. Even with this tremendous growth, the need for affordable housing is even greater, and by federal standards, Charities Housing would still be considered a small business. While there are many larger housing development firms, the power of Charities Housing is its community-based presence, its longstanding trusted relationships with local governments and community partners, and its role as the housing development arm of Catholic Charities.
As CEO of Catholic Charities, I am honored to serve as President of Charities Housing, and our organizations benefit from the guidance of shared board members. Meanwhile, Catholic Charities Supportive Housing team assists Charities Housing residents by connecting them to services and resources. Through our onsite staff, this ensures that resident families and individuals have the support needed to maintain stability in housing.
This year, we celebrated the grand opening of our Page Street Studios and the groundbreakings of two apartment developments on Alum Rock and Keyes Streets in San Jose. We look forward to the upcoming grand opening of the Blossom Valley Senior Apartments in San Jose and the groundbreaking of the Montecito Apartments in Mountain View. We congratulate Charities Housing Executive Director Mark Mikl and the team on their success.
While Catholic Charities and Charities Housing can’t solve the housing crisis by ourselves, we do what we can to prevent homelessness while we also advocate for policies that enable more quality affordable homes to be built faster with less red tape and expense.
I invite you to come and visit some of our apartment homes and see the difference that Charities Housing and Catholic Charities together are making in the lives of our neighbors as we alleviate, reduce, and prevent poverty through affordable housing. If you would like to support this work, please indicate Supportive Housing on your donation designation.
Many blessings,
Gregory R. Kepferle, CEO
