Neighborhood Revitalization Program

Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco has begun acquiring bank-owned homes as part of its new Neighborhood Revitalization Program -- the first of its kind in the San Francisco Bay Area. Habitat has committed $500,000 to launch the program, which will enable new affordable homeownership opportunities for local working families following rehabilitation of the homes by Habitat. Habitat is currently rehabilitating two NRP homes in Menlo Park and one NRP home in Novato.

Habitat Greater San Francisco has also entered into a groundbreaking new partnership with the city of Menlo Park, which is investing an additional $500,000 in the program. With this combined initial investment of $1.0 million, Habitat plans to acquire and rehabilitate five vacant bank-owned properties in the Belle Haven neighborhood of Menlo Park, with a possible program expansion following the initial pilot phase. Habitat hopes to expand the program to other areas hard-hit by the foreclosure crisis.

"I have seen first-hand the impact of foreclosures on Menlo Park and know that we must take immediate action to address the problem."

Heyward Robinson, Mayor of Menlo Park

Over the past year, foreclosure signs have become an all too common sight in the Bay Area and around the country. The crisis has caused families to be displaced and, in some cases, to leave their communities for good. Yet San Mateo County has maintained a relatively low foreclosure rate. At less than one percent, the county's foreclosure rate has actually obscured the magnitude of the problem in places like the Belle Haven neighborhood of Menlo Park and other areas like it where foreclosure rates are four to six times higher than that of other communities.

Communities, through no fault of their own, are hard-pressed to deal with the growing glut of homes that are standing vacant, in many cases blighted, and having a devastating effect on their local neighborhoods. Unlike other communities in the Bay Area and across the country, San Mateo County was ineligible for federal neighborhood stabilization funds, leaving communities like Menlo Park that are facing growing instability in their housing markets to come up with a workable solution on their own without federal assistance. The Neighborhood Revitalization Program represents a unique public/private initiative drawing support from many sectors of the community to help revitalize local neighborhoods destabilized by the crisis. Utilizing the work of noted architecture firm, Saida + Sullivan, the visual impact of the rehabilitation will transform a neglected property into a beacon of community hope.

Families selected for the new program will help with the reconstruction and refurbishment of the homes as part of the standard sweat equity requirement of the Habitat program. They will also have access to the same terms of Habitat's homeownership program, including no down payment and a zero-interest mortgage, to purchase their homes. They will undergo significant homeownership education and training, just as all Habitat families do, helping to keep Habitat's foreclosure rate at less than one percent locally and around the country.

For more information:

NRP Program Overview [PDF]

NRP FAQ [PDF]