Fresno Housing Alliance

Mission and History

The Fresno Housing Alliance is a coalition of community members committed to increase the availability of safe, decent, accessible, affordable housing in Fresno. Its initial organizational members included Faith in Community and its constituent congregations, the League of Women Voters of Fresno, Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries, Relational Culture Institute, Habitat for Humanity Fresno County, Housing Partnership for the Disabled, the Fresno/Madera/Tulare/Kings Counties Central Labor Council, and participants that represent various tenant rights and legal services groups, businesses, nonprofits, educational programs and institutions, and other civic and community groups in the Fresno area.

The Fresno Housing Alliance was launched in July 2004 by Faith in Community, a network of 20 Fresno congregations and community-based organizations addressing affordable housing and other economic and social justice issues. In May 2004 Faith in Community sponsored a bus tour of Fresno slum housing followed by a press conference with Mayor Alan Autry. As a result, Mayor Autry enlisted Faith in Community's support in addressing housing issues. In recognition of the massive scale of Fresno's growing affordable housing deficit and the urgent need for a broad-based pluralistic coalition of community members who would accept responsibility for research and results, the Fresno Housing Alliance was created.

Since its launch, the Fresno Housing Alliance has organized

• A field trip to San Diego for 35 leaders to learn about the San Diego Organizing Project's affordable housing strategy, September 2004,

• The "What's Up with Affordable Housing in Fresno Workshop" with City, County, and housing development experts, February 2005,

• The "People's Housing Summit," October 2005,

• Work with City Planning and Development professionals on the "10 by 10" plan with the goal of 10,000 new affordable housing units by 2010, adopted by the mayor in 2006.

Through the Fresno Housing Alliance, many community leaders have engaged in functional committees researching housing needs, public policy, funding, and alliance strategies with the long-term strategic goals of

• Supporting an exemplary, proactive City code enforcement program,

• Encouraging "smart growth," mixed income neighborhoods, minimum density standards, incentives for building or rehabilitating affordable housing, and planning that protects natural resources,

• Increasing the available land, financial resources, and the number of nonprofit developers building high quality affordable housing to meet local needs.

 The Fresno Housing Alliance is staffed by the Relational Culture Institute (RCI) and Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries (FIRM). Please call 559-276-2304 or 559-487-1500 for more information.

You may also contact committee chairs directly by visiting our Communicate page.