Showcasing Mutual Self-Help Housing

By Suzanne Anarde, RCAC chief executive officer

RCAC is a diverse organization in that we are a Mutual Self-Help Housing (MSH) intermediary, and we provide a myriad of other housing services and support, including homeownership counseling training and 502 direct mortgage certified loan packaging. Additionally, we provide community, economic development and environmental services, technical assistance and training. We are also a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).

When asked about RCAC, I often start the conversation with our CDFI offerings and explain our lending portfolio and the importance of CDFIs, before transitioning to our technical assistance and training services. The primary reason I do this is because many folks I interact with understand what a CDFI is … it is a succinct term that provides recognizable context for our organization.

However, once the conversation progresses, I transition to the other areas of our organization and the meaningful work we do with and through our communities and partners. It is what sets us apart at RCAC; and it often leads to an in-depth conversation around a comprehensive approach to community development and how we layer and leverage RCAC’s capacity and focus areas.

Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) is the national CDFI association. Lisa Mensah is OFN President and CEO. In late February, I had the pleasure of hosting Lisa and several team members in central California on a rural site visit. OFN reached out to RCAC as a CDFI, but also because Lisa knows the Mutual Self-Help program from her days as Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development during the Obama Administration. We then reached out to the San Benito County Community Services Development Corporation (SBCCSC) to help coordinate a site visit of RiverView Estates in Hollister, California.

It was an incredible opportunity to elevate rural California and Mutual Self Help and the intricate collaboration and coordination that it takes to bring the essential elements together. Our partner, SBCCSC Executive Director Sonny Flores, and RCAC’s Homeownership Options Manager Dick Kempke, shared the evolution of the site (with an absolutely stunning view!) and the Mutual Self Help building journey for the current group of 12 families, as well as the next group of an additional 12 families. Seth Capron joined us. He has been a Mutual Self-Help champion for decades and stepped up to fill the construction manager role for SBCCSC on this project.

While Lisa has a keen understanding of the Mutual Self-Help program and has worked as a farmworker during her childhood in Oregon, the rest of the OFN team does not have any rural reality in their professional and/or personal experience. The beauty of Hollister, the site, and the dedication and determination of the families building their homes together impressed the OFN team. I was struck by their reaction to the site and process overview, and by their admiration for the families that choose this pathway to homeownership.

It was an incredible day, but also bittersweet. SBCCSC named the primary street in RiverView, Dennis Lalor Lane” in honor of legendary CEO and president of South County Housing. Dennis passed away in late 2017. It was a stark reminder for me, that those of us blessed to work in affordable housing, stand on the shoulders of those visionaries and trailblazers who came before us.