The San Francisco Foundation’s Bay Area Community Impact Fund is proud to make a $1 Million loan to the East Palo Alto Community Alliance Neighborhood Development Organization (EPACANDO) for its Placekeeper Fund (“Fund”). Launched to tackle East Palo Alto’s (EPA) ongoing housing crisis, EPACANDO will use the Fund to acquire and develop properties while ensuring they remain affordable for the long term. This helps residents with low incomes remain in their community and lays the groundwork for a more stable and affordable future.
The Placekeeper Fund
The Placekeeper Fund focuses on acquiring single-family homes, which EPACANDO repairs and, when possible, adds Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) to the land to provide more affordable homes for community members. The property is placed in a community land trust which owns the land, while the residents purchase the homes at an affordable price. This means that families’ household income would be between 50% and 120% of Area Median Income and they would not spend more than 35% of income for housing costs. The homes stay affordable, even upon resale, and residents can build wealth. These efforts address East Palo Alto’s (EPA’s) housing shortage, prevent displacement, and promote equity.
The Fund’s phase one goal is to acquire ten single-family properties —most of which house residents facing displacement — and develop 14 new units, primarily ADUs. When selling homes, the Fund will prioritize “placekeepers”—local community leaders with a history of community service.
The Placekeeper Fund has already experienced success. Youth United for Community Action (YUCA) is a cornerstone of the EPA community, the headquarters of which is a house that was put up for sale. The Fund collaborated with YUCA and the Pahali Community Land Trust to purchase the house. They plan to add two ADUs to the property and ensure that YUCA’s vital space remains permanently affordable.
This loan to EPACANDO expands on SFF’s work to support using ADUs to help address the Bay Area’s affordable housing crisis.
- SFF funded a Terner Center report that highlights the role of ADUs in advancing equity.
- SFF’s Partnership for the Bay’s Future recently published Community-Driven Policy Solutions Roadmap highlighting strategies for launching an equitable ADU policy.
- SFF funding for organizations like Casita Coalition has resulted in local and statewide policies enabling building ADUs for families with low incomes.
These efforts and others are creating the conditions for community-based organizations like EPACANDO to expand affordable housing options through ADU development.
BACIF: Join Us in Making an Impact
SFF’s Bay Area Community Impact Fund uses foundation and donor funds to make impact investments in organizations and projects that align with our equity agenda. Our low-interest, long-term loans enable organizations to expand their activities and finance high-impact projects. As loans are repaid, our fund makes new investments, recycling capital back into communities. We also invest in other mission-aligned assets, such as insured deposits in local community banks and credit unions. For more information about investing in the Bay Area Community Impact Fund, contact the Philanthropy and Gift Planning team at (415) 733-8590 or email donorservices[at]sff.org.
About EPACANDO:
A membership-based, non-profit organization of over 30 years, EPACANDO creates affordable housing and promotes community and economic development in the City of East Palo Alto. EPACANDO has a strong focus on anti-displacement, through its homeownership, ADU and multi-family affordable housing development programs. To date, they have developed or co-developed over 400 units of housing in EPA.
