By Holden Weisman
Director of Policy & Advocacy, Habitat Greater San Francisco
Where has the year gone?! Thanksgiving has passed, December is upon us, and the new year is just around the corner. This turning point is a great opportunity for Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco (Habitat GSF) to take a quick look back over the year on the challenges we’ve faced and the progress we’ve made and let that be the launching point toward advocacy wins in 2026. For this month’s advocacy blog post, I want to share with you some things I’m thankful for from the past few months and offer a little hope for what they mean for our future advocacy campaigns together into 2026.
CalHome Funding – A gift in disguise
Key Takeaways:
- The final state budget in June zeroed out CalHome for the 2025-26 grant cycle.
- Habitat for Humanity California and local affiliates advocated for homeownership funding, launching a campaign to restore CalHome, and gathering at the State Capitol to elevate the issue.
- In the coming months, Habitat GSF will invite the community to join in amplifying the call for a renewed $500 million investment in CalHome for the 2026–27 state budget.
It’s been a tough year for CalHome – California’s only state-funded program dedicated to building and preserving affordable homes for ownership. The final state budget in June zeroed it out for the 2025-26 grant cycle. This means Habitat affiliates across the state including Habitat GSF will have to go without these critical funds once any upcoming awards from the remaining funds run dry.
If there’s one thing we can be thankful for from this huge blow to CalHome is that it’s become a rallying cry for us with Habitat for Humanity California (Habitat CA) leading the charge. Since we learned of the cut in May, our advocacy has taken firmer positions on homeownership funding to dedicate specific amounts for building homes, launched a campaign to restore CalHome in the next budget, and most recently rallied at the State Capitol in Sacramento on November 17 at an event organized by Habitat CA. Habitat GSF CEO Maureen Sedonaen was there to be a voice for us and our fellow affiliates at the day’s events that also included a Habitat homeowner, state legislators, local government leaders, and partner organizations all speaking up to call on Governor Newsom to fund CalHome with a renewed $500 million investment in the 2026-27 state budget.
This rally is just the kickoff for our CalHome advocacy for 2026. Over the coming weeks and months, I’ll be asking you all in our community to join us to amplify this call through various advocacy opportunities. Let’s make sure Governor Newsom hears loudly and clearly from all of us to fund CalHome with $500 million in the 2026-27 state budget!
We’re proud to Call Marin Home
Key Takeaways:
- The Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative (MEHC) has officially rebranded as Call Marin Home, a unified coalition of housing-focused organizations working together to address Marin’s housing challenges.
- Habitat GSF was honored at the annual Friendraiser event for Call Marin Home as a founding member of the coalition.
- The event provided valuable connections with fellow advocates, policymakers, and community leaders, setting the stage for meaningful partnerships and collective accomplishments in 2026 and beyond.
In late October, I had the pleasure of joining dozens of local policymakers, philanthropists, and housers at the annual Friendraiser for Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative (MEHC) in Mill Valley where a big announcement was made. MEHC is now Call Marin Home, a coalition of housing focused organizations in Marin County working together to solve the county’s complicated housing crisis.
I was so happy to represent Habitat GSF and our work in Marin County at this event as we were recognized as a founding member of Call Marin Home. This coalition will be an incredible united front to advocate for the kinds of housing and homeownership we need to see built with each other’s support across Marin.
I also appreciated the opportunity to connect with many fellow advocates, policymakers and officials who I’m certainly looking forward to working alongside going forward. I want to extend special thanks to Annie O’Connor from the Bolinas Community Land Trust who provided both a warm welcome and introductions to many wonderful people in the Bolinas and wider Marin communities present at the event, all of whom I can count on to be supporters of affordable homeownership advocacy.
Call Marin Home represents the power we have when we all come together to build and achieve our housing goals cooperatively. I’m truly grateful for leaders like Jenny Silva, Executive Director of Call Marin Home, for including Habitat GSF and our growing advocacy strength to add to this coalition. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what we’ll all be able to accomplish as a coalition in 2026 and beyond!
A quick update – San Francisco’s Family Zoning Plan
Key Takeaways:
- In November, advocating for the Family Zoning Plan continued, including speaking before the Land Use and Transportation Committee to support amendments, such as one from Supervisor Chyanne Chen that would have helped nonprofits like Habitat GSF access SFMTA land—but this amendment was not included in the final legislation.
- The Family Zoning Plan was officially passed by the full Board on December 2 and will now pave the way for more housing development opportunities across San Francisco.
Back in October, I shared my efforts to support San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s Family Zoning Plan (FZP) to upzone a significant portion of the city – especially west side neighborhoods – so San Francisco can maintain a compliant housing element with the state and retain control over its own planning. My advocacy in support of the FZP continued throughout November, including speaking once again before the Land Use and Transportation Committee asking for the inclusion of supportive amendments. One proposed by Committee Member and District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen to offer qualified nonprofits a better chance of acquiring SFMTA land for housing development before it gets sold on the open market would have been particularly helpful to Habitat GSF. While this amendment ultimately did not wind up in the final legislation, I was still happy to see the FZP be recommended by the Committee to the Board of Supervisors. The Family Zoning Plan was officially passed by the full Board just this month on December 2 and will now open the doors for more housing development opportunities across San Francisco.
Advocacy is for everyone
Whether you’re a seasoned advocate like me or entirely new to it, I’m hoping we can all grow our advocacy skills together as we face some tough challenges ahead to keep producing and preserving affordable homes for ownership in the Greater San Francisco area.
Anyone can be an advocate, and to support that we’re developing ways that we can train our staff, partners, volunteers and homeowners to feel confident and ready to engage in our future advocacy campaigns. In the coming months I’ll be continuing to work with staff and fellow advocates to build an advocacy training series we hope to roll out in 2026. Stay tuned here for more details to come in the new year.
On a personal note…
This week marks the completion of my first 6 months as your Director of Policy and Advocacy at Habitat GSF. As my first calendar year here winds down, I can’t help but reflect on what it means to me to be a part of this community and see the change we can make in real people’s lives. Habitat homes give hope for a better, more prosperous future, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity to contribute a small piece to that future by leading our advocacy work. Please join me in 2026 as a fellow advocate so we can build more homes and hope together!
As always, if you would like to learn more about our advocacy or would like to discuss ways you could engage with Habitat Greater San Francisco, contact me, Holden Weisman at hweisman@habitatgsf.org.