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On Thursday afternoon, October 1st, the Sacramento Housing Alliance (SHA) will host a bus tour showcasing a variety of affordable residential communities in the City and County of Sacramento. The SHA Affordable Housing Bus Tour will feature a diverse range of housing options from homes for people transitioning out of homelessness to homes for lower middle class families. Visits will focus on developments that, through public and private partnerships, provide homes for families earning $40,000 or less.

Participants will see 10 affordable residential communities along the tour route including walking tours at three of the sites. The first stop is a visit to Serna Village, a healing residential community housing formerly homeless families. The route then continues to Victory Townhomes, a housing development built by Sacramento Mutual Housing Association (SMHA) that includes a financial education program, youth development program, and a computer lab.

The third stop is one of Sacramento Habitat for Humanity’s latest build sites which consists of four new single family homes on Forrest Street in the Del Paso area. The homes are being built with “sweat-equity” where the future homeowners help construct their new home with the help of construction experts and volunteers. The Forrest Street site will also be home to a celebration recognizing the United Nations World Habitat Day on Monday, October 5, 2009, following the bus tour.

About 31% of Sacramento’s population is considered very low income. This means that they make less than 50% of the area’s median income or $36,400 for a family of four or $25,500 for an individual. These people include seniors, persons with disabilities, young families and college students. According the California Bureau of Labor Statistics a few of the professions that may also fall into lower income categories are teachers, paramedics, bank tellers, baristas, and retail clerks. While rental housing costs have decreased slightly, the economic downturn has put additional strain on families through unemployment, furloughs and lower wages.

The Sacramento Housing Alliance has been on the forefront of advocacy for lower income families and homeless people in the greater Sacramento region for 20 years. SHA is a coalition of organizations and individuals including non-profit and for profit developers, environmentalists, civil rights advocates, homeless service providers, architects, and business professionals. SHA works to break-down myths about affordable housing and highlights the importance of building communities with a range of housing types to meet the needs of all people in Sacramento. SHA’s goal is to make home a reality for everyone.

For more information about the Sacramento Housing Alliance and future SHA events, please visit www.sachousingalliance.org or e-mail sha@sachousingalliance.org. The bus tour is made possible with support from Citi and from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.