1
HOUSING COLLABORATIVE ACTION NETWORK (CAN)
2022-2024 ACTION PLAN
When the sun
rises, it rises
for everyone.
1
PAGE 02
Executive Summary
Call To Action
PAGE 03
History and Overview
Why We Lift: Mission & Values
PAGE 05
How We Got Here: Community Voice & Data
What The Data Tells Us
PAGE 04
How We Got Here: Community Voice & Data
What Residents Say
Key Resident Perspectives
PAGE 06
Our Plan: Results & Priority Factors
PAGE 07
Our Plan: Strategies & Actions
PAGE 08
Implementing Our Plan & Tracking Success
Looking Ahead
PAGE 09
Appendices
TABLE OF CONTENTS
2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Rents are too high and wages are too low in the Coachella Valley and across California, and the
pandemic made things worse. Already struggling families were hit even harder by COVID-19,
forcing many to rely on assistance from rental relief programs like those administered through
United Lift. Lift to Rise and our partners showed up to help over 100,000 county residents keep
their homes and distribute more than $250 million throughout the pandemic. But, as this relief
dries up, we need our federal and state leaders to double down on eorts to provide additional
support to keep Coachella Valley families housed. Everyone has a role to play in addressing
this crisis, and only together can we ensure a future where our neighbors are stably housed.
That’s why we created this 2022-2024 Action Plan – to establish a roadmap forward and outline
tangible steps we can take together to radically increase housing stability and economic mobility
for everyone who calls the Coachella Valley home.
CALL TO ACTION
Forging A Path Forward
The issues that we face are so complex, and at times polarizing, that it’s easy as organizations and individuals to feel as though nothing can
be done. Our existence as an organization is in itself a commitment to move forward together. By continuing to recommit to shared goals, and
with our deep care for this place we all call home, we continue to choose this path forward. We can choose to radically accept where we are
-- without weaponizing our identities or drawing lines -- while acknowledging our failings and our successes. We can strengthen our ability to
work together toward a shared destination of prosperity for every Coachella Valley resident. We can be the best of who we are, while on our
way to the best of who we can become.
This Action Plan is our shared commitment to continue forging that future together.
OUR GOAL
By 2028, build 10,000 new aordable housing units in the
Coachella Valley and reduce rent burden by 30%.
HOW WE GET THERE
By December 31, 2024, Lift to Rise’s Housing Collaborative
Action Network (CAN) aims to drive two key goals forward in
the Coachella Valley:
• Build 5,000 aordable housing units: There will be at least 5,000
new units of aordable housing completed, under construction, or
set to be under construction within the next six months. At least 40%
of those units will be connected to Early Childhood Education (ECE)
and have a health plan.
• Reduce rent burden & foreclosures: We will launch a new initiative to
reduce the number of evictions and foreclosures in Coachella Valley.
We know we can do this thanks to our incredible partners in the
Housing CAN comprised of over 60 cross-sector partners including
residents and community-based organizations, elected ocials
and sta from all nine Coachella Valley cities and Riverside County,
aordable housing developers, Community Development Financial
Institutions (CDFIs), and private funders. The CAN developed
this Action Plan collaboratively and iteratively during a six-month
strategic planning process. It’s a plan that will keep us advancing and
accountable in our shared goals.
OUR NORTH STAR
A future where all
Coachella Valley
families are healthy,
stable, and thriving.
The Housing CAN developed these results through five key
strategy areas, each with its own set of actions:
PIPELINE
Tracking aordable housing developments and mapping out new
opportunities throughout the region, including intersection of ECE
and health
FUNDING
Growing a regional housing catalyst fund to leverage public and
private capital and mitigate risk for aordable housing developers
POLICY ADVOCACY
Advocating at the local, state, and federal level for policies that promote
aordable housing production in our region
RESIDENT ENGAGEMENT
Educating and mobilizing residents and elected ocials in support
of aordable housing in our communities
KEEPING RESIDENTS HOUSED
Developing a housing stability resource center to prevent evictions
and foreclosures
We all have a role to play in creating a future where all Coachella
Valley families are healthy, stable, and thriving. When we choose to lift
together, we rise together. This Action Plan shows us how.
THE LIFT TO RISE HOUSING COLLABORATIVE ACTION NETWORK (CAN) 2022-2024 ACTION PLAN
3
HISTORY & OVERVIEW
HISTORY
In the fall of 2014, we came together as a small group of community-based partners—including
FIND Food Bank, United Way of the Desert, the Regional Access Project Foundation, the Desert
Healthcare District, and the Riverside County Economic Development Agency—to pursue a
“Collective Impact” approach. We sought to address the underlying causes driving our common
challenge: resident need was only growing, and we had to move beyond stop-gap approaches
to increasingly growing disparities. We recognized that the problems residents face—low
incomes, food insecurity, poor health outcomes, and insucient transportation, health, and
housing infrastructure—are inherently interconnected, mutually reinforcing, and can neither be
understood nor addressed in isolation. We aimed to address the multiple forces of instability
across the Valley, and to overcome long-standing silos that prevent collective engagement. In
2015, we forged an academic partnership with the USC Sol Price Center for Social Innovation.
The Price Center continues to support our data and research capacity to this day.
In July 2018, Lift to Rise launched as an independent nonprofit organization to mobilize and
advance the collective eorts of our partners. Today, Lift to Rise convenes more than 60 private,
public and nonprofit partners in collaborative action networks (CANs). Over the past six years,
the work of Lift to Rise has grown from a philosophical commitment of a handful of local leaders
to a dynamic, results-driven, cross-sector collaboration.
Lift to Rise’s mission, priorities, and target organizing areas were identified through a process of deep community learning. The decision to
launch each CAN emerged through community-driven processes where residents cited housing aordability and continued economic
constriction as central concerns and sources of instability in their lives. In response, Lift to Rise organized into two areas of work: housing stability
and economic opportunity.
ACTION PLAN OVERVIEW
The Lift to Rise 2022-2024 Housing CAN Action Plan is a two-year
roadmap to radically increase housing stability and economic mobility
for all Coachella Valley residents. This Action Plan describes:
• Our shared two-year goals
• The priority factors impacting those results
• Key strategic areas to achieve those results
• Action steps for each strategy
• Benchmarks and performance measures for each action
OUR TARGET GEOGRAPHY
Lift to Rise and the Housing CAN serve the Coachella Valley.
Cities
Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs, Cathedral City,
La Quinta, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage, Indio, and Coachella
Unincorporated Communities
Mecca, North Shore, Oasis, Thermal, Thousand Palms,
and Bermuda Dunes
WHY WE LIFT:
MISSION & VALUES
OUR MISSION
Lift to Rise brings together community and institutional leaders to collaboratively solve the underlying causes of poverty and inequality.
OUR VALUES
THE LIFT TO RISE HOUSING COLLABORATIVE ACTION NETWORK (CAN) 2022-2024 ACTION PLAN
Community
We believe that community voice and
leadership must be central to planning,
implementation, and evaluation of our work.
Racial Equity
We seek and value all types of diversity,
and strive to dismantle inequities,
including those present in ourselves, our
organizations, and our communities.
Innovation
We believe change is possible, are
not afraid to try new ways to solve old
problems, and take initiative to learn, cross
boundaries, and overcome obstacles.
Results
We set clear goals, measure progress, and
use data informed by the community to
make decisions and hold ourselves and
each other accountable.
Servant Leadership
We build trust with partners, and seek to
lift up and support the leadership and
actions of others.
Belonging
We create teams and spaces where
people feel care, practice empathy, and
work through dierences.
4
HOW WE GOT HERE:
COMMUNITY VOICE AND DATA
WHAT RESIDENTS SAY
In the leadup to our action planning process, Lift to Rise conducted four Data Walks and 10
Focus Groups with community residents in the Coachella Valley and other parts of Riverside
County who gave us feedback on housing and economic mobility data and spoke about which
kind of housing and government services they’d like to see.
We used a systematic methodology to meet with diverse groups of residents that spanned races
and ethnicities, income levels, industries, and geographical locations. Individuals who we met
with included low-income renters, mobile home park residents, food service and hospitality
workers, warehouse workers, undocumented immigrants, farm workers, unhoused residents,
youth, and single parents.
We worked with over a dozen partner organizations to help gather participants and facilitate
community listening. Everyone who participated received a $50 gift card as compensation.
Our partner organizations included FIELD: Farmworker Institute for Education and Leadership,
Coachella Valley Housing Coalition, COFEM: Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas, United
Way of the Desert, Inland Coalition 4 Immigrant Justice, SBX Youth & Family Services, Desert
Highland Gateway Estates, and Pueblo Unido CDC.
Residents repeatedly identified the following as barriers
to making ends meet:
• Lack of available units that are aordable
• Long waits for housing vouchers
• Rent burden
• Wages at current job are low/not given enough hours at job
• Cost of living is getting more expensive
• Lack of education/skills (especially digital literacy)
• Lack of credit
• Not enough public transportation connecting home and work
• Not being made aware of available resources and programs
• Lack of financial literacy
• Language/immigration status barriers
Residents repeatedly identified the following as
wanted resources/strategies:
• Homeownership opportunities
• Rent control / rent caps
• Better public transportation
• Subsidized child care
• Skill-building workshops
• More opportunities to give decision makers feedback
• Job Fairs
• Financial preparation
• Better credit / debt cancellation
• More cooling centers
THE LIFT TO RISE HOUSING COLLABORATIVE ACTION NETWORK (CAN) 2022-2024 ACTION PLAN
“One of the realities
we are living is that
what is necessary for
a family to earn is not
enough. You can either
pay rent or eat.”
– COACHELLA VALLEY RESIDENT
“The reality is that we want more freedom to be able to move
around. We are here because it’s financially necessary. It
would be great if we had more financial freedom to move to
dierent places.”
“There are not sucient resources for residents to be able to
obtain the American dream of having a home or even having
an aordable home. There’s also a long wait line. The wait list
is years, and sometimes you have to wait through that. And at
the end of it all, even though you’re turning in all these things
you don’t end up qualifying. So that’s also very frustrating for a
lot of people.”
– COACHELLA VALLEY RESIDENT
– COACHELLA VALLEY RESIDENT
KEY RESIDENT PERSPECTIVES
5
WHAT THE DATA TELLS US
In developing our Action Plan, the members of the Housing CAN
grounded ourselves in key data takeaways about housing and
economic mobility in the Coachella Valley:
• The Coachella Valley’s population grew by 10% over the last
decade, a faster rate than the rest of the state (7%) and the
nation (7%).
• Nearly one in five (18%) of Coachella Valley residents live below
the federal poverty line, compared to 13% of Californians and 13%
of Americans overall.
• The median household income in the Coachella Valley ($54,245) is
more than $20,000 lower than the median household income
in California overall.
• Prior to 2018, an average of only 38 units of aordable housing
were being produced annually in the Coachella Valley.
• Half (50%) of the Coachella Valley’s population is Hispanic/Latinx.
• On average, Black and Latinx families in the Coachella Valley
are more likely to earn below the federal poverty level than
white and Asian families.
** “Aord” is defined as paying less than 30% of monthly income on rent
THE LIFT TO RISE HOUSING COLLABORATIVE ACTION NETWORK (CAN) 2022-2024 ACTION PLAN
6
THE LIFT TO RISE HOUSING COLLABORATIVE ACTION NETWORK (CAN) 2022-2024 ACTION PLAN
OUR PLAN: RESULTS, PRIORITY FACTORS,
STRATEGIES & ACTIONS
RESULTS
To drive us toward our shared overall result of reducing regional rent burden by 30% through the
production of 10,000 units of aordable housing in the Coachella Valley by 2028, the Housing
CAN aims to move two key two-year results in Coachella Valley by December 31, 2024:
• There will be at least 5,000 new units of aordable housing completed, under construction, or
set to be under construction within six months. At least 40% of those units will be connected
to Early Childhood Education (ECE) and have a health plan.
• We will launch a new initiative to reduce the number of evictions and foreclosures in
Coachella Valley.
PRIORITY FACTORS
During our action planning process, the members of the Housing CAN reviewed the community
perspectives and data takeaways listed in the previous section and identified seven priority
factors that we will need to address to achieve our results:
1. Need for sucient units in pipeline each year that are equitable, target right population
needs, and meet our criteria including for health and childcare;
2. Projects need both pre-development and permanent financing to move to construction;
3. Federal and state funding sources often have guidelines that disadvantage our region;
4. There are diering entitlement processes and other barriers at municipalities and the county
that slow or impede development;
5. There is NIMBY (“Not In My Backyard”) opposition to aordable housing that must be
overcome;
6. There is no centralized, current source of data on evictions and foreclosures in the region;
7. There are insucient services preventing eviction and foreclosures, and services are
disconnected from each other.
** “Aord” is defined as paying less than 30% of monthly income on rent
7
STRATEGIES & ACTIONS
To address these factors, the Housing CAN
agreed on five strategy areas and a set of
actions within each strategy that we will
implement together to achieve our results:
PIPELINE
Identify 3,000 units a year that meet criteria for the aordable housing
pipeline with an emphasis on those that include connections to health
and Early Childcare and Education (ECE) and move at least 50% of
pipeline projects to development.
• Identify 3,000 new units for the pipeline by December 31, 2023 and
another 3,000 by December 31, 2024;
• Review each city’s housing element and creatively activate or
re-purpose vacant land in partnership with county and municipal
governments, school districts, utilities and others;
• Create a centralized pipeline portal tool through agreements with
county and municipal governments, developers, and stakeholders,
and make the pipeline sortable by population targets (percent of
Area Median Income), potential for health and childcare connections,
and other criteria;
• Develop criteria for health and Early Childcare and Education (ECE),
and conduct a landscape analysis of opportunities and impediments
to increase ECE opportunities connected to housing;
• Identify 3-4 infrastructure plays that could accelerate development.
FUNDING
Grow We Lift: Coachella Valley’s Housing Catalyst Fund’s lending pool
to more than $60 million that will be invested in moving projects to
by-right development, and create a “help desk” to support
municipalities and developers to access permanent financing.
• Raise $30 million in grants for We Lift’s loan loss pool, which will
be matched by $30 million in CDFI and other funds to support
predevelopment costs, helping developers secure land and
permanent financing to move to construction;
• Raise $10 million in grant dollars to support housing connected to
health and ECE outcomes;
• Deploy We Lift loans to at least four projects per year;
• Help developers and municipalities access Federal and State of
California Housing and Community Development (HCD) programs
that provide permanent financing.
POLICY ADVOCACY
Advocate for changes in federal and state regulations for aordable
housing programs that remove barriers for our region and align our
County and all nine municipalities in establishing pro-housing policies
that support development.
• Federal focus: Seek opportunities for the region to access CDFI
Capital Magnet Fund, HUD program guidelines, and USDA program
guidelines;
• State focus: Re-orient climate and density goals to fit inland
California regions in the guidelines and regulations of CDLAC,
TCAC, and HCD;
• County focus: Increase investment in our region as a model
for the county; streamline and align entitlement processes
with municipalities and earn HCD Pro-Housing Designation;
THE LIFT TO RISE HOUSING COLLABORATIVE ACTION NETWORK (CAN) 2022-2024 ACTION PLAN
• County focus: Work with health and early child care and education
(ECE) agencies to support aordable housing tied to health and ECE,
and unlock new funding for development;
• County focus: Develop County-wide aordable housing strategy
by 2024;
• Local focus: Support all nine Coachella Valley cities to earn the
HCD Pro-Housing Designations (a mix of policies including By
Right Development, Parking Waivers, Impact Fee Waivers, Density,
Zoning changes, streamlined entitlement) with emphasis on by
right Development and streamlined entitlement;
• Initiate and support research to identify pathways to permanent
financing in our region.
RESIDENT ENGAGEMENT
Educate and activate resident leaders, partners, and public ocials to
advocate for aordable housing in the region.
• Build compelling case for aordable housing and supporting media
and materials through work with The Case Made and Swell Creative
Group;
• Identify other housing advocates in the region and build partnerships
around shared agenda interests;
• Activate the Resident Leadership Table to educate residents and
increase resident civic engagement through attendance at public
meetings, letters of support, and other activities in support of
aordable housing;
• Mobilize CAN members and their networks to support aordable
housing proposals;
• Design and deliver curricula to educate public ocials and for
community members who wish to advocate;
• Develop materials and work with partners to equip elected and
appointed public ocials with data and arguments in support of
aordable housing.
KEEP RESIDENTS HOUSED
Create a Housing and Rental Resource Center as a one-stop shop that
connects residents and landlords to a sucient network of services to
prevent eviction and foreclosure.
• Create a central database with real-time information on evictions,
code violations, and foreclosures in the region;
• Develop a right to counsel in Riverside County, and partner with
courts to gather data and divert evictions;
• Build a network among prevention services (legal aid, mediation,
and rental assistance), and work with partners to develop new or
expanded services to meet need;
• Engage landlords and landlord groups to support them in diverting
evictions;
• Launch a portal and triage process to work with tenants and
landlords to prevent evictions.
8
IMPLEMENTING OUR PLAN
AND TRACKING SUCCESS
The Housing CAN and its Pipeline & Policy Workgroup meet monthly
to coordinate our work around the above Action Plan strategies. The
members of the Housing CAN operate from a work plan that assigns
responsibility to key drivers and partners for each strategy area with
defined performance metrics to be assessed at the end of June
2023 and again at the end of 2024. This ongoing process holds
Lift to Rise and the CAN’s cross-sector members accountable to
our shared results.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Housing CAN is organized to achieve our shared result by 2028
and this Action Plan is our roadmap through 2024. While our shared
result will not change, the priority factors that support or impede our
result, and the strategies we develop to address those priority factors,
may change over time. The CAN will continue to reconvene every two
years to undergo additional strategic planning processes where we will
co-create our 2024-2026 and 2026-2028 Action Plans.
THE LIFT TO RISE HOUSING COLLABORATIVE ACTION NETWORK (CAN) 2022-2024 ACTION PLAN
9
APPENDICES
List of CAN Partners
Abode Communities
The Annenberg Foundation
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Bank of America
California Forward
California State University San Bernardino
Center for Community Investment
Century Housing
Chase Bank
CHOC Housing
City of Palm Desert
City of Rancho Mirage
City of Indio
City of Coachella
City of Palm Springs
City of Indian Wells
City of La Quinta
City of Desert Hot Springs
City of Cathedral City
Coachella Valley Housing Coalition
Coachella Valley Rescue Mission
Coachella Valley Association of Governments
Coachella Valley Water District
Coachella Valley Unified School District
College of the Desert
Communities for a New California
Council of Mexican Federations in North America (COFEM)
DAP Health
Desert Healthcare District
Desert Highland Gateway Estates
Desert Sands Unified School District
Desert Valley Builders Association
ECV for Change
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
First Bank
First 5 Riverside
FIELD Farmworker Institute
Galilee Center
Habitat for Humanity
Hope Through Housing Foundation
IEGO
Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice
Inland Empire Community Foundation
THE LIFT TO RISE HOUSING COLLABORATIVE ACTION NETWORK (CAN) 2022-2024 ACTION PLAN
Inland Equity Partnership
Inland SoCal Housing Collective
Inland SoCal United Way
InnerCare (Formerly Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo)
Jewish Family Services
Jamboree Housing
Lincoln Institue of Land Policy
Low Income Investment Fund
MSA Consulting
NPHSINC
National CORE
One Future Coachella Valley
Pacific Western Bank
Palm Creek Ranch
Palm Communities
Palm Springs Black History Committee
Palm Springs Unified School District
Parkview Legacy Foundation
Regional Access Project Foundation
Riverside Community Action Partnership
Riverside County Planning Department
Riverside County Housing and Workforce Solutions
Riverside County Economic Development Agency
Riverside County Oce of Education
Riverside County Board of Supervisors District 4 V. Manuel Perez
Riverside University Health System
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC)
Rural Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC)
SBX Youth and Family Services
Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing (SCANPH)
The Pacific Companies
TODEC
TruEvolution
United Way of the Desert
Uplift San Bernardino
Urban Housing Communities
The Urban Institute
US Bank
USC Sol Price Center for Social Innovation
Vision y Compromiso
Wells Fargo Foundation
West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation
LIFT WITH US
Mailing Address:
73–710 Fred Waring Drive,
Suite 100, Palm Desert, CA 92260
Email: [email protected]
Website: lifttorise.org
Telephone: (760) 289-5422
Scan to view
digital Action Plan
We all have a role to play in creating a future where all Coachella Valley families are
healthy, stable, and thriving. When we choose to lift together, we rise together.
lift_rise lifttoriselifttorise
Housing CAN Co-Chairs
Mike Walsh, Riverside County Housing and Workforce Solutions,
Deputy Director
Eric Ceja, City of Palm Desert,
Deputy Director of Development Services and Economic Development