A recently passed California law is allowing the Catholic Church to address the state’s shortage of low-income housing. Passed in 2024, SB 4 allows religious groups to fast-track the development of new housing on properties they already own. With land holdings that dwarf the city of Oakland spread throughout the Catholic dioceses of California, the Church is in a unique position to take advantage of the new rules.
The Archdiocese has already announced its partnership with a new non-profit, Our Lady Queen of Angels Housing Alliance, which has stated its mission is to provide housing that is “stable, affordable, and sustainable,” for individuals and families.
The Alliance has already started planning its first project: a 74-unit apartment building called The Willow Brook. Located near LA City College, it will cater to college students and young adults fresh out of the foster care system.
LAist spoke to former LA Planning Commissioner, David Ambroz, who praised the Church for taking action to help those transitioning out of the foster care system. With roughly a quarter of those who age out of foster care experiencing homelessness, affordable housing in the range of $400-$500 would be a boon to the system. About 20% of the units at Willow Brook will be dedicated to helping these individuals.
“Imagine every foster kid in Los Angeles with the hope at the end of their tenure in foster care for housing and an education, as opposed to hopelessness, violence, and instability in housing,” Ambroz said.
While the Catholic Church has a lot of land in California – one study found that its land holdings amount to five-times that of the city of Oakland – the Housing Alliance has noted that it would “look very closely” to determine which sites would be the most appropriate and cause the least impact to communities. Some residents have voiced concerns over the building of apartment housing in residential areas zoned for single-family homes.
Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles expressed his excitement over the potential for the new rules of SB 4 to allow the Church to take action and make a positive change in the community:
“Through Catholic Charities and our ministries on Skid Row and elsewhere, we have been working for many years to provide shelter and services for our homeless brothers and sisters. With this new initiative we see exciting possibilities to make more affordable housing available, especially for families and young people,” Archbishop Gomez stated.
