ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) -- Alameda County leaders are moving forward with a major investment in affordable housing, backed by Measure-W dollars and the newly designated Home Together Fund. This all took place at a press conference on Saturday in Oakland in front of the Alameda County Administ ration Building. Measure-W is a 10-year, half-percent sales tax approved by Alameda County voters in 2020. It funds homelessness services, including shelters, permanent housing, and support programs for unhoused residents. After surviving legal challenges, the measure continues to support countywide efforts to address homelessness. Alameda County is investing $53 million in Measure-W funds through the Home Together Fund to help build nearly 889 affordable housing units, including 345 for people experiencing homelessness. The funding, approved by the Board of Supervisors, said Elisa Marquez, Supervisor for Alameda County District 2. The funding is part of a broader effort to expand permanent supportive housing and address the county’s homelessness crisis, with strict timelines requiring developers to secure full financing and begin construction. “So we’re really excited to actually appropriate these funds over the course of this measure,” said Marquez. “We plan to raise close to $1.4B dollars with a ‘B’.” Human remains from one person found at two different Oakland locations In total, funding for this round supports 889 housing units across ten projects. Of those, 345 units are designated for people experiencing homelessness. Another 533 units are set aside for lower-income households, with the remaining units reserved as manager units. An 11th project, approved in January on county-owned property in Oakland, is also moving forward separately. All ten of the newly selected affordable housing projects are expected to be built. Under the terms of the funding commitment, developers have one year from the Board’s approval to secure all additional financing, including state and federal funds. Once full funding is in place, construction must begin within 180 days. If projects fail to secure funding within that one-year window, the county says the dollars could be reallocated. Among the officials were Jesse Williams, Renee Hayes, and Jean Toney, who spoke about their struggles to become unhoused, to have either lived in transitional housing, or no longer. They all support Measure-W. “Shelter is the right of every human being,” said Toney. “My time being homeless was short compared to most people, but you never forget the feeling,” said Williams. “I’d like to say that I believe housing is a human right,” said Hayes. Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee acknowledged Oakland’s major unhoused crisis. “So, I have to be clear, and we can’t sweep this under the rug. Oakland is the epicenter of this crisis, and not by coincidence, it’s a product of decades of redlining, disinvestment, and displacement,” said Lee. Accompanied at the press conference with Mayor Lee were Alameda Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft and Livermore Mayor John Marchand. Officials say the funds awarded through this RFP specifically support and restrict homeless-designated units within each project, reinforcing the county’s broader goal of expanding permanent supportive housing and addressing homelessness countywide. ...read more read less